DHAKA: A judge Thursday postponed the trial of Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia while she asks the country’s top court to stop her prosecution in the graft and abuse of authority case.
She appeared in court as trial Judge Abu Ahmed Jamader delayed the trial until later this month and allowed Zia time to take the issue to the Supreme Court.
Prosecutors say shady sources supplied $400,000 that Zia and her aides used to set up a charitable trust named after her late husband and former President Ziaur Rahman while she was prime minister from 2001 to 2006. Zia is currently the main opposition leader.
Zia and her Bangladesh Nationalist Party say the charges against her are politically motivated. But the government says there was credible evidence to prosecute her.
Her arguments to the court cite legal deficiencies in the complaint against her. The High Court, an appeals court, earlier rejected her plea to scrap the trial proceedings in the case filed by the anti-corruption commission in 2011.
Zia is the archrival of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose government has accused Zia’s party of supporting radicals it blames for recent attacks on bloggers, Shiites, Christians and foreigners.
If convicted, Zia could be jailed for up to 10 years and barred from contesting the 2019 national elections.
Judge grants delay in Khaleda Zia trial
Judge grants delay in Khaleda Zia trial
Indonesia to buy Indian-Russian missile system for coastal defense
- BrahMos missile is one of world’s fastest supersonic cruise missiles
- Indonesian government has been working to upgrade its aging military hardware
JAKARTA: Indonesia has agreed to purchase a supersonic missile system from a Russian-Indian company to strengthen security on its coastline, the Ministry of Defense confirmed on Tuesday.
The BrahMos missile is one of the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missiles. It can reach speeds of Mach 2.8, or nearly three times the speed of sound, and be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land.
It was developed by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between the Indian military research and development agency DRDO and Russian weapons manufacturer NPO Mashinostroyeniya.
“Indonesia has partnered with India to strengthen our defense technology and industry,” Rico Ricardo Sirait, spokesperson for the Indonesian Defense Ministry, told Arab News on Tuesday.
“This includes (the procurement of) the BrahMos missile system to beef up our coastal defense, as part of efforts to modernize our weaponry.”
He declined to disclose more information about the deal.
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelagic state with around 18,000 islands and over 7.9 million sq. km of sea, is the latest Southeast Asian nation to acquire the weapons.
In 2022, the Philippines closed a $374 million deal to acquire three BrahMos anti-ship missile batteries, while Vietnam has reportedly been in talks to purchase the weapons system.
Jakarta has been working to upgrade the country’s aging military hardware in recent years, setting aside big budgets for defense spending.
In January, three Rafale fighter jets arrived in Pekanbaru, Riau, from France, marking the first batch of deliveries of a multi-billion-dollar defense deal between the two countries. The next batch is expected to reach Indonesia later this year.
Last year, Indonesia and Turkiye signed a number of defense deals, including an agreement to set up a jointly operated drone factory and the purchase of KAAN fighter jets.
