DHAKA: Bangladeshi police fired rubber bullets and tear gas on Wednesday as they clashed with hundreds of activists outside a Dhaka court where the opposition leader is facing trial for corruption.

Police said up to 1,500 supporters turned out as Khaleda Zia, who served two turns as Bangladesh’s prime minister, appeared in court seeking to have her case postponed.

“We secured the court premises for security and barred unwarranted people, but her supporters got angry and threw stones at police, forcing us to retaliate,” additional commissioner of police Mehedi Hasan said.

Hasan said police beat the protesters with batons and fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them.

“Four of our officers were injured in the incident,” he said, adding he could not say whether there were any casualties among the protesters.

Khaleda, the head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is seeking to have two corruption cases against her postponed because the country’s highest court is hearing appeals against the legality of the charges.

She and eight of her aides are accused of embezzling more than $600,000 meant for orphans and a charitable trust during her second term as prime minister in 2001-6.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2014