DHAKA, 7 July 2007 — A special court in Dhaka sent a Bangladeshi woman who worked as a UN human rights expert to jail in connection with a corruption case, her lawyers said yesterday.
Sigma Huda, a lawyer appointed by the United Nations in 2004 as an independent expert on people trafficking, was sent to jail late Thursday pending the start of a trial planned for Monday, prosecution lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajal said.
Sigma has been accused of abetting her husband, former Communications Minister Nazmul Huda, in extorting more than 20 million takas ($294,000) from a construction firm while he was still in office, Kajal said.
Huda served in the government of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia before its term ended in 2006. He was arrested in February as part of an anti-corruption drive by Bangladesh’s military-backed interim government that assumed power a month earlier following violent clashes over electoral reforms that left more than 30 people killed. On Thursday, Sigma arrived at the court by an ambulance from a hospital where she was being treated for a cardiac problem, her lawyer, Borhan Uddin said. From the court, she was first taken to Dhaka Central Jail before being admitted into the prison cell of a state-run hospital, the lawyer said. Earlier this week, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court overturned a bail ruling granted to Sigma by the high court, Borhan said.
He said Sigma is innocent and that she was being targeted for being outspoken against the military-backed government.
Last month, a Bangladesh court blocked Sigma from attending the UN Human Rights Council, Borhan said.
She has been outspoken about corruption within the country’s police service, and campaigned on behalf of women and the homeless. Under international conventions, Sigma enjoys certain diplomatic privileges that prevent her arrest or detention while she is acting in her role as a UN rights expert.
In June, UN officials asked Bangladesh to clarify her situation after reports she was being prevented from leaving the country.
Troops Battle Suspected Kidnappers
Bangladesh Army troops exchanged gunfire with suspected tribal rebels believed to have kidnapped a Bangladeshi man working for a Danish aid agency, police said yesterday.
