DHAKA, 6 June 2005 — A Dhaka court yesterday denied bail to wife of former Bangladeshi President H.M. Ershad and allowed police to hold her for up to 72 hours while they quiz her about allegations of misappropriating funds. Bidisha, who was arrested overnight at her apartment in the capital Dhaka, asked the court to free her, arguing she was the victim of a political conspiracy.
Bidisha was detained after her husband filed a complaint, accusing her of misappropriation of money and issuing threats.
Official sources said Bidisha was likely to be questioned on her alleged links with foreign intelligence organizations.
Prior to her arrest, Bidisha told reporters that top officials of the Jatiyo Party, the political organization founded by Ershad during his eight-year rule as military dictator, were behind the charges.
“Some leaders in the party did not like my influence on my husband’s organization and conspired against me,” Bidisha said. Earlier, Ershad fired Bidisha, his second wife, as party vice president and also suspended her membership of the Jatiyo Party, which is the second biggest opposition group in Parliament.
In the bail petition, her counsel Shafiuddin Bhuiyan said the case against Bidisha was politically motivated. She did not pose any threat to her husband. The case is fabricated and designed to harass her, he said.
Ershad came to power by staging a bloodless coup as army chief in 1982 and ruled the country until December 1990 when he was forced to step down amidst street unrest.
