Dhaka - A Dhaka court Monday allowed corruption charges to proceed against a former prime minister and five others for alleged embezzlement of an orphanage fund. The court fixed October 25 to hear charges of misappropriation of more than 300,000 dollars through a fraudulent orphanage trust formed during Khaleda Zia's 1991-96 rule, court officials said.
The former premier personally appeared before the court amid tight security Monday.
Zia's eldest son, Tarique Rahman, now in exile in London, her nephew Mominur Rahman and principal secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui are among those accused in the graft case, lodged by Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission in July 2008.
The panel's investigators submitted reports to the court last month recommending a trial on the charges.
The court also issued arrest warrants against Mominur and Siddiqui while it intends to continue the trial proceedings against Tarique in his absence.
