Former Bangladeshi PM Zia booked under sedition charges

Dhaka: Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia was today booked for treason over her alleged ‘slanderous comments’ concerning martyrs of the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan, with a court here summoning her to appear before it.
After a brief hearing, the court summoned her to appear before it in person.

“The court summoned her (Zia)… she has been asked to appear by March 3 to face the sedition charge for her recent slanderous comments over the 1971 liberation war martyrs number,” another official said.

Speaking at a discussion on December 21 last year, 70-year-old Zia had ‘expressed doubts’ about the casualty figures of the 1971 liberation war.

“There are controversies over how many were martyred in the Liberation War. There are also many books and documents on the controversies,” she had said.

The ruling Awami League, 1971 veterans and members of the martyred families had sharply reacted to Zia’s comments with some of them even calling her as the ‘agent of Pakistan’.

Supreme Court lawyer Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed Mehedi on December 27 had sought Zia be tried for sedition in the court under section 123 (A) of the country’s Penal Code.