DHAKA, Oct 14, 2019 (BSS) – A court here today set November 5 to hold
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.