Faced with murder charge, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has decided to postpone her return home from the United States with her party claiming that she had done so on the advise of the interim government.
She was scheduled to leave the US on 14th of this month for Bangladesh but has informed the General Secretary of Awami League, Abdul Jalil that she will not depart for Bangladesh on the said date.
The country is currently going through a massive anti-corruption drive initiated by the interim government of that country and heavily backed by the defense forces. The activities of the major political parties, even indoors, have been banned under the national emergency in force since Jan 11.
Murder charges
According to the police, Hasina has been accused of the murder charges after months of investigation into two separate cases filed by the rival groups involving the killing of 10 people in Dhaka on Oct. 28.
A 14-party alliance led by the Awami League accused Jamaat of starting the violence resulting in the deaths, while Jamaat, in a separate complaint to police, accused the Awamis.
A court will formally hear the charges on April 22.
Jamaat-e-Islami chief Matiur Rahman Nizami and his nine party leaders were among those charged.
Hasina is on a private trip to the United States and had been due to return to Dhaka on April 23. But she brought her return forward to next week after a businessman lodged a complaint with police that she had extorted 30 million taka (over $400,000) while in power before 2001.
