June 26, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 21, 1429

DHAKA: Lawyers acting on behalf of the detained son of former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia won a first step on Wednesday to have him freed and sent abroad for medical treatment.

Sanaullah Mia, a lawyer for Arafat “Koko” Rahman, said that his client had been granted permission to be tried in absentia on graft charges.

“His lawyers will appear in the court on his behalf during his judicial activities,” he said.

His expected release comes as the army-backed government, which has been in power since a state of emergency was declared in January 2007, is trying to restore democracy by holding elections at the end of the year.

The country’s main political parties — the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Awami League — had refused to take part in elections while their respective leaders and their families were detained.

In a deal struck earlier this month, the emergency government sent Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed to the United States for medical treatment.

It also hopes to send BNP leader Khaleda Zia abroad to have her arthritis treated. She is refusing to go but is demanding the release of her two sons, Koko and his older brother Tareque, who she says has been tortured in custody.

Koko Rahman, who faces the same graft charges as his mother, is reported to be suffering from acute asthma and lung problems.

Although he did not have a ministerial role in his mother’s government, Tareque was frequently referred to as the most powerful man in Bangladesh during Zia’s second tenure as prime minister between 2001 and 2005.

A decision on whether he can be tried in absentia will be made on June 29, Mia said.—AFP