Summary Zia, 69, has called the embezzlement charges politically motivated.
DHAKA (AFP) - A Bangladeshi court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Khaleda Zia for failing to attend hearings for graft charges, amid growing political turmoil in the country.
Judge Abu Ahmed, from a special anti-corruption court in Dhaka, "issued the warrant against her" despite the fact Zia has been "confined" to her office since January over the political turmoil, her lawyer Sanaullah Miah said.
"There is no justice in the country," Miah told reporters outside the court, protesting against the decision.
Zia is charged with embezzling $650,000 in two corruption cases dating back to her time as premier in 2001-2006 that could see her jailed for life if found guilty.
Authorities have confined the former two-time premier since early January when she called on her supporters to enforce a nationwide transport blockade in efforts to topple the government of her bitter rival Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The protests have unleashed deadly violence across the country leaving more than 100 people dead, with opposition supporters firebombing hundreds of buses and trucks and police responding by firing live rounds.
Zia and three of her aides are accused of syphoning off 31.5 million taka (about $400,000) from a charitable trust named after her late husband Ziaur Rahman, a former president who was assassinated in 1981.
She is also accused of leading a group of five people, including her eldest son and her heir apparent, in embezzling 21.5 million taka -- funds which were meant to go to an orphanage set up in memory of her late husband.
Zia, 69, has called the embezzlement charges politically motivated aimed at destroying her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
The opposition leader also faces unrelated charges over the ongoing violence.
