ZCZC
BSS-12
HEARING-NIKO-KHALEDA
Indictment hearing in Niko graft case deferred till June 23
DHAKA, May 30, 2019 (BSS) – A court here today adjourned till June 23
the hearing on charge framing in Niko graft case against BNP chairperson
Begum Khaleda Zia and others.
Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Dhaka 9th special judge court passed the
order this morning at the newly built courtroom in front of Keraniganj
Central Jail.
Today was set for holding hearing on charge framing, but the jail
authorities couldn’t produce Khaleda Zia before the court as she is
undergoing treatment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against five
including Begum Khaleda Zia with Tejgaon police station on December 9, 2007,
for abusing power in signing a deal with Canadian company Niko for exploring
and extracting gas.
The ACC on May 5, 2008, submitted the charge-sheet against 11 people
including Khaleda Zia. The ACC accused them of incurring a loss of more than
Taka 13 thousand crore of state exchequer by that deal.
Khaleda is now behind the bar after being convicted in Zia Orphanage
Trust graft case on February 8, 2018. She was sentenced to five-year
imprisonment, which later enhanced to 10 by the High Court.
BSS/CORR-JUB/MHR/IJ/1520 Hrs