HC hears Hasina's writ appeal

Dhaka, Jan 23 (bdprem.com)—The High Court began hearing a writ petition Wednesday challenging the trial of an extortion case against Sheikh Hasina under emergency powers rules. Your Ad Here The case was filed by businessman Azam Jahangir Chowdhury on June 13, 2007. During the hearing in front of the HC bench of justices Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Shahidul Islam, Hasina's counsel argued that it was in no way appropriate to try the case under EPR. Barrister Shafique Ahmed pointed out that the alleged incidence of extortion was dated before a state of emergency was imposed in the country. The lawyer added that applying the Emergency Powers Ordinance to an incident that took place a long time back contradicts the ordinance itself. On Jan 17, the High Court had stayed the proceedings of the case until the legitimacy of trying the case under EPR was settled. On Jan 21, the government appealed against the High Court stay order, and the Appellate Division set a new date for proceedings to continue. Hasina was arrested and detained on July 16, 2007. She was subsequently shown arrested in the case filed by Azam.