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DHAKA - Murder charges were filed against former Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina and more than 50 others today, as the army-backed interim government entered its fourth month in power.
Jamaat-e-Islami chief Matiur Rahman Nizami and his nine party leaders were among those charged with killing a number of activists during street campaigns in the impoverished South Asian country on October 28.
Senior leaders of Hasina's 14-party alliance were also charged with the same offence because open rioting by the two groups had resulted in the deaths of 10 people, police said.
A court will formally hear the charges on April 22 and decide whether the case should go to trial, a court official said.
Hasina, prime minister from 1996-2001, is expected to cut short a visit to the United States to return home next week to be available for an investigation into separate charges filed this week by a businessman who says she extorted more than US$400,000 ($555,480) while in power.
Meanwhile, her arch-rival, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Begum Khaleda Zia, who ended a five-year term as prime minister in October, is in virtual confinement at her Dhaka home.
Her elder son, Tareque Rahman, a BNP leader and her apparent political heir, has been in jail since March 7. He faces charges of extortion and abuse of power for amassing huge wealth.
About 160 other senior politicians have been detained in a crackdown on corruption launched by the military-backed interim government after it took charge on Januaryand imposed a state of emergency amid widespread factional violence.
The interim government is tasked with taking the country to a free and fair election.
Abdul Jalil, general secretary of Hasina's Awami League party, described both the extortion and murder charges against her as baseless and farcical.
"The charges will not stand up in the court of law," he said.
Ali Ahsan Mujahid, secretary-general of the Jamaat-e-Islami, said "the murder charge brought against us was only to harass the party and its leadership. The law will acquit us."
Mainul Husein, adviser to the interim government in charge of law and information ministries, when asked to comment on the charges, said: "We are rescuing the politics from debris after an earthquake triggered by corrupted politicians."
The interim administration postponed a general election planned for January 22 after violence, largely between supporters of the Awami League and the BNP, raged across the nation.
One adviser to the interim administration said it had no intention of clinging to power "even a day beyond the time needed to create conditions for a credible election".
But the Election Commission has said preparing a flawless roll of voters might take up to 18 months, suggesting an election might still be two years off.
- REUTERS
