DHAKA: Lawyers for Bangladesh’s last elected Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said on Sunday they would seek an adjournment in a tax evasion case against her, saying they need more time to prepare.
"We will move a petition in the court, seeking more time in the case," said one of her lawyers, Mohammad Sanaullah.
"She will not be in the court today." Zia — who led Bangladesh twice from 1991-1996 and again from 2001-2006 — was ordered last month to appear before a Dhaka court on tax evasion charges by Sunday.
She and 10 others have been charged with failing to pay taxes on a newspaper company that she owns.
The leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has been under pressure for months from the country’s military-backed emergency government, which has vowed to clean up corruption and put a stop to political party activity.
In April, the government tried to force Zia into exile in Saudi Arabia but the plan was eventually abandoned.
Her influential elder son Tareque Rahman has been in police custody since March on corruption charges.