Editorial
Khaleda's arrest
Due process of law must be ensured
The ex-PM's arrest does not come as a surprise. In fact the news of Khaleda Zia's impending arrest had been in the air for sometime, particularly after the arrest of Sheikh Hasina. Many had been left wondering after July 16, 2007 as to what kept an immediate past PM out of the reach of the law while an ex-PM, whose tenure of office had been long over, was incarcerated.
It would not be wrong on our part to suggest that there were doubts in the public mind regarding the government's intention of making public office-holders, and those who benefited by exploiting political and family linkages, accountable under the current anti-corruption drive. It was reinforced with the release of Khaleda Zia's youngest son, soon after he was arrested the first time. With their arrest one hopes that all the speculations would have been put at rest.
Now that Khaleda Zia has been arrested we would expect that all due process of law would be followed and that the facilities that the law of the land provides to an accused would be afforded to the ex-PM.
We feel obligated to repeat in case of Khaleda Zia what we had said in these columns after the arrest of Sheikh Hasina. Both the party leaders, in spite of the way they chose to conduct politics during their term in office, have developed a stature and standing of their own in the minds of the public. Therefore we insist that they, both Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, must be treated with due dignity and honour and ensured all legal rights during the process of trial. So far, to the credit of this government, both these leaders have been treated with due respect.
We would like to call upon the government to ensure that whatever charges are brought against the accused, they are grounded on incontrovertible facts and that they are legally founded. It is also important to keep in mind that the legal proceedings are not only transparent; it must also be made certain that they are open and fair.
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