The Awami League (AL) general secretary, Obaidul Quader, yesterday criticised Khaleda Zia for allegedly spreading lies against the AL and Sheikh Hasina in court.    

“To get favour from the court and gain politically, the BNP chairperson sheds crocodile tears in the court and spreads falsehood against the AL and its president,” he said while talking to newsmen in Noahkhali.

On Thursday, Khaleda Zia had read out a part of a long and emotional statement in self-defence at the hearing of the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case in a special court in Dhaka.

She had said that the Prime Minister had been lucky as she, unlike her (Khaleda), never had to appear before a court. “Honourable court, you know that various types of cases on charges, including corruption, abuse of power, irregularities and extortion, were filed against Sheikh Hasina on different occasions... But unlike me, she never had to appear before a court.”

“The way in which the BNP chief spoke against the AL and Sheikh Hasina is not political. We don’t want to hear such words from a former prime minister,” the AL leader said.

 Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, wondered how could Khaleda Zia say that Sheikh Hasina never faced imprisonment. During the BNP-Jamaat rule between 2001 and 2006, Hasina appeared before courts on multiple occasions at hearings in graft cases filed against her, he said.

“There is no use spreading lies against the AL and its president, as people know who has been politically harassed more,” he added.