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DHAKA - A BANGLADESH special anti-graft court adjourned on Sunday former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's trial on extortion charges until Tuesday because she was sick, court officials said.
Jail authorities told the court Hasina was unable to attend the trial due to illness, one of Hasina's attorneys and acting chief of her Awami League, Zillur Rahman said.
She is accused of extorting some US$1 million (S$1.4 million) from two businessmen while in power.
She fell sick at court on Dec 31 and was removed to the jail. Her lawyers and physicians said she was suffering from high blood pressure as well as ear and eye problems.
The court convened at a house near a building in the sprawling parliament compound in Dhaka where Hasina has been detained since her arrest in July.
A four-member team of physicians was expected to make a formal appeal on Sunday to the head of the interim authority to send Hasina abroad for medical treatment abroad.
A Dhaka newspaper said on Sunday her son Sajib Wajed Joy, who is living in the United States, also called for his mother's freedom and treatment aboard.
Bangladesh's army-backed interim administration took over on Jan 11, 2007, following months of political violence and has since detained more than 170 political figures, including another former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, as part of a massive crackdown on corruption.
The country remains under a state of emergency, but the government has vowed to hold a free, fair and credible election before end of this year.
Hasina and khaleda alternated as prime minister of Bangladesh for 15 years to Oct 2006, when Khaleda ended her second five-year tenure. -- REUTERS
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