DHAKA: Bangladesh’s main opposition leader Khaleda Zia went on trial on Monday charged with embezzling $650,000 in two corruption cases that could see her jailed for life if found guilty.

Lead prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain said the anti-corruption court opened Zia’s trial after rejecting a request for a further delay by lawyers for the leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), who twice served as prime minister.

Zia was excused from personally attending the hearing on security grounds.

“After so many delays we’ve finally been able to start the trial today, “Hossain told reporters after the hearing got under way at a makeshift court set up near Dhaka’s old Mughal-era quarter.

“The case has already been delayed 40 times since the court accepted the charges against her years ago,” he said.

Zia and three of her aides are accused of syphoning off 31.5 million taka ($400,000) from a charitable trust named after her late husband Ziaur Rahman, a former president who was assassinated in 1981.

She is also accused of leading a group of five people, including her eldest son and her heir apparent, in embezzling 21.5m taka ($277,000) — funds which were meant to go to an orphanage set up in memory of her late husband.

The trial was adjourned until Oct 13 after the first prosecution witness, an official with the country’s anti-corruption agency, began giving evidence.

Prosecutors have said the former premier, who also faces several other charges, could be jailed for life if found guilty.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2014