Lawyers who are engaged with graft cases of the ACC cannot move for Hasina in court as they are under the condition of not providing any legal assistance to any accused in court during the trial, a senior lawyer who last week was appointed as a senior prosecutor for the ACC told The Daily Star yesterday.

The ACC has started appointing a large number of senior lawyers to form its three-layer legal team--legal advisers, senior prosecutors and public prosecutors--to provide the ACC with legal support during the trial of the accused in lower and higher courts, sources said.

Due to the ACC's ongoing recruitment, pro-AL lawyers said senior lawyers might not be able to move for Hasina during the trials.

In such a situation, they are planning to bring in legal experts from abroad--particularly from USA and UK--to provide Hasina with legal aid. They have already discussed the issue with the AL chief, sources in the AL said.

The pro-AL lawyers on Hasina's request have started consulting among themselves for taking necessary steps in this regard. A number of lawyers yesterday during a meeting discussed options of launching the legal fight for Hasina, the sources added.

"Initially, we are thinking about ways to clear the obstacle to Hasina's USA visit. If the court asks the government to withdraw the restrictions imposed on her USA visit, she would be able to leave the country," a senior lawyer, who was present at the meeting, told The Daily Star.

An AL leader, however, yesterday said a writ petition might be filed with the High Court (HC) challenging the government-imposed restrictions on Hasina's going to USA on Friday.

Hasina, however, has yet to direct the lawyers whether they would move for obtaining her bail in the two extortion cases filed against her, an AL source said.

A senior AL leader, who is regularly maintaining contact with Hasina, told The Daily Star that they have already talked to Hasina about bringing in foreign lawyers.

"If we finally decide to bring in lawyers from abroad, the expatriates, who are well-wishers of the AL chief, will gather the funds for employing foreign lawyers," the leader said.

The AL leader, however, expressed doubt whether the government would allow foreign lawyers enter Bangladesh to provide legal aid to Hasina.

Eminent jurist Dr Kamal Hossain, Barrister Amir-Ul-Islam, Rokanuddin Mahmud and some others' name are being discussed as legal advisers to the ACC. Some of the senior lawyers have already given consent to the ACC's proposal for being appointed as legal adviser, sources said.

Advocate Khan Saifur Rahman, Khandakar Mahbub Hossain, Anisul Haque, Baset Majumder, Mahbubur Rahman and Habibullah are among the senior lawyers the ACC has been trying to recruit.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday advocate Anisul Haque said he was appointed as a senior prosecutor to the ACC last week. He, however, said he put a condition during his recruitment that he would resign from the panel of senior prosecutors if Hasina needed any legal aid.

"Our family has a special relationship with the Bangabandhu's family. So, I cannot stay behind and not provide Sheikh Hasina with legal support in court," Anisul said.

Senior lawyer Khandakar Mahbub Hossain said he refused the ACC's proposals last week to be listed as a panel lawyer of the anti-graft body.

"I told them [officials of the ACC] that I would assist them, if they needed any legal suggestions. But I do not want to register myself as a panel lawyer of the ACC," Mahbub told The Daily Star.