BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday said she would not say anything about Sunday's national election.
She said this when reporters asked her about the election after a hearing of the Niko graft case at a makeshift court inside the Old Dhaka Central Jail.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. As she was being taken back to her cell in a wheelchair, she said, “My legs ache too much.”
During the hearing, she told the court, “I won't come to the court if it sits at a place like this. The court can't run here. Our people can't come here. Give me sentence if you want….I won't come to this court.”
Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of the Special Judge Court-9 of Dhaka said, “Start the charge hearing afresh as I am new in this case. I will hear everyone's speech.”
After that, Public Prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Commission Mosharraf Hossain Kajol read out the charges against Khaleda and 10 others.
BNP standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed, an accused in the case, told the court, “We are yet to get the documents stating the allegations against us although we have applied for them before. We need to read those documents to be able to fight the legal battle.”
He also said the setting of the court was not appropriate for holding a trial as there was no proper seating arrangement for lawyer and others.
Prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajol argued that the defense was trying to delay the charge framing by saying those things.
The court fixed January 13 for the next hearing.
The judge also kept a petition in the case file submitted by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam on November 22 last year seeking permission to produce an FBI agent and two Canadian police as witnesses before the court to testify.
On December 9, 2007, the ACC filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station accusing Khaleda and 10 others of abusing power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko.
Leave your comments