A court in Bangladesh on Sunday declared the eldest son and heir apparent of former premier Khaleda Zia too ill to appear in court, his lawyer said. The decision came after Tareque Rahman, who is being tried for taking kickbacks to suppress a murder case, accused the army-backed government of torture in custody.
A special anti-graft court ordered his exemption after it became "satisfied that Tareque is unfit to attend the court," his lawyer Rafiqul Islam Mia said. "The court has recognised that he is sick and needed appropriate treatment. Doctors have already examined him and suggested that Tareque be treated abroad, preferably in Germany. Otherwise he could be crippled permanently," he said.
"He will be represented by his laywers during the trial," he added. Government lawyer Shamim Ahsan said he had visited Rahman and found him to be sick.
Rahman, who is the joint secretary of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Zia, has been detained since March last year on graft charges after the government launched a nation-wide anti-corruption crackdown.
Although he did not have a ministerial role in his mother's government, the 42-year-old was frequently referred to as the most powerful man in Bangladesh during Zia's second tenure as prime minister between 2001 and 2006. Mia told an anti-graft court late last month that Rahman had been energetic and fit before he was arrested, but was now unable to appear in court because of "severe physical problems."
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