I’m ready to face any situation: Khaleda

Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia on Wednesday said that she would be acquitted of the charge if justice was done in the ‘false and baseless’ Zia Orphanage Trust corruption but she was ready to face any situation.
‘I want to inform the people of the country that your Khaleda Zia has done nothing unjust. I have committed no corruption,’ Khaleda said at a news conference at her Gulshan office..
The news conference was held as a special court set up at Bakshibazar in Dhaka was scheduled for today to pronounce verdict in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case filed against Khaleda, her eldest son Tarique Rahman and four others.
The BNP chief said that nothing would happen to her if justice was done in the ‘false’ case.
Alleging she was
implicated in the case creating forged documents, she said that if minimum rule of law and independence of judiciary existed in the country, people who filed or instructed the filing of the case should be prosecuted and punished.
‘If anything else takes place in the verdict to please the ruling quarters, it will remain as the history of stigma. People do not forgive any wrongdoers,’ Khaleda said.
She said that the trust was a private one, there was no government money in the trust and she was never involved in the trust in anyway.
She said that not a single taka of the trust was embezzled and all the money remained deposited in bank in the name of the institution and tripled with accrued interests.
Khaleda said she was ready to face any situation and nothing could be extracted by trying to frighten her with jail or conviction.
‘I would not bow down or step back from the demand of establishing democracy and peoples’ rights,’ she said.
The BNP chief alleged that attempts were being made to use court to keep her away from politics and election.
‘I think it would not fulfil their intention of establish one-party rule,’ she added.
Khaleda urged the people to carry out united, peaceful and constitutional movement for democracy for a fair election and for establishing the government of the people.
She said that BNP still hoped that good sense would prevail upon the Awami League leadership.
She asked the ruling AL to come to path of peace to arrange a fair election shunning the path of threat, intimidation and repression.
Reiterating her call for forging greater national unity, Khaleda said that many of Awami League leaders believed in democracy and peoples’ rights and thought about the consequence.
She said that the ruling quarter was more scared than BNP centring the verdict as peoples’ rights to movement, protest and assembly were curtailed by in administrative order. 
Referring to various financial scam, money laundering and plundering of public money from banks and from mega projects during the Awami League government, she said that no investigation took place against those who committed corruption.
Khaleda said that ‘hostile’ campaign was being made against armed forces and ‘hate’ was being spread against them.
Through ‘politicisation’ and other ‘evil ways’, the administration and the police have been placed in a face-to-face confrontation with the people, she said.
In over 30-minute written statement, Khaleda alleged corruption, misrule and political persecution.
She, however, entertained no question from the journalists.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and standing committee members, among others, were present.
There was heavy presence of members of law enforcement agencies on the road in front of her Gulshan office. 

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net