In a continuing drive against corruption in high places the military-backed interim government in Bangladesh has brought fresh charges of extortion against a former prime minister and her elder son, officials said Sunday.
The Anti-Corruption Commission formulated charge sheets against ex-premier Khaleda Zia and her elder son Tarique Rahman for embezzling funds earmarked for an orphanage, a spokesman from the anti-graft watchdog said.
"The commission has approved suing Zia and Rahman and five others in a special court for transferring the charity funds to their own bank accounts," Hanif Iqbal said. Both Zia and Rahman are out of jail on bail granted by the High Court for medical treatment outside the high security make-shift prison set up in the parliamentary complex in north Dhaka.
The mother and son face three other corruption charges involving multinational energy contracts, officials said. The current charge sheet for misappropriation is the fourth graft case against Zia since the appointment of an interim regime backed by the army in January 2007. Zia is also accused of taking kickbacks from businesses along with her younger son Arafat Rahman Koko, who is also on bail on medical grounds.
President Iajuddin Ahmad declared a state of emergency to quell unrest following a violent stand-off between Zia and her arch political rival and another former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. The stand-off had pushed the poverty-stricken country to the brink of a breakdown in law and order.
The last parliament was dissolved two years ago, but escalating political violence has stalled fresh parliamentary polls in the South Asian country.
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