DHAKA: As a Bangladesh court is set to record the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses in a corruption case against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her family on Wednesday, her son Sajeeb Wazed came down heavily on the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government for orchestrating "fabricated" cases against them.
The remarks came after a Bangladeshi court on July 31 brought charges against Hasina, her son Wazed, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, and several others in connection with the Anti-Corruption Commission's (ACC's) six cases over alleged corruption under the Purbachal New Town project.
The court also issued arrest warrants against them and fixed Wednesday to record the testimonies of prosecution witnesses.
Wazed, Former Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, asserted that no illegality was involved in the entire process in the acquisition of the Purbachal plots.
He stated that every step during the process -- from the application to allotment and payment -- "followed the letter of the law."
"This is simply a futile attempt by the Yunus Regime to sully the name of my family, spearheaded by a politically compromised Anti Corruption Commission, and overseen by a compliant judiciary too intimidated to pursue the truth, " Wazed said in a post on X.
He said that the plots had to be purchased from the government as per the official rates and questioned, "Then, why these 'cases'? Because under the Yunus dictatorship, the ACC has been turned into a full-time tool for harassing and defaming my family members with baseless allegations."
Slamming the ACC Chairman Abdul Momen, Wazed said the previous Awami League Government sacked Momen over corruption allegations, adding that his only apparent qualification for the post of ACC chief is his background as a pro-Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) bureaucrat who once served as the private secretary of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.
The former advisor, therefore, expressed little expectation of fairness and justice from the ACC.