Bangladesh ex-PM Zia skips court appearance

Dhaka, March 14 (IANS) Former Bangladesh Prime Minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia did not appear in the trial proceedings of 11 cases against her at a Dhaka court on Tuesday citing ill health, her lawyer said.

Zia, a two-time Prime Minister of Bangladesh (1991-1996; 2001-2006), faces trial in 10 cases related to violence during Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) anti-government protests in early 2015 over demands to advance election dates.

"Khaleda Zia could not appear before the court today as she is sick," her lawyer Sanaullah Mia told Efe news.

The BNP chief is also facing sedition charges for expressing doubts over the widely-accepted version that three million were killed or martyred during the 1971 Liberation War when Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan.

Zia had not appeared before the court on health grounds also on February 27, when the court had allowed it "for one last time", and postponed her appearance until Tuesday, said Mia.

"There is nothing called as one last time. We informed the court about her illness and the court gave us a new date," he said.

The opposition leader has now been asked to appear before the court on March 28.

The Awami League, led by current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and Zia's BNP have alternately been in power in the country since 1991, except for a brief period of military rule between 2006 and 2008.

The BNP -- currently absent from Parliament -- boycotted the last General Elections of 2014 and has been much weakened lately owing to continued arrests of its leading members and cadres, apart from the 35 cases of corruption, violence and sedition that Zia herself is embroiled in.