Jailed BNP chief Khaleda Zia has threatened to skip court once again in the Niko graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
“I won’t come to this court anymore. Even, my lawyers have no space to sit here. If the trial continues in this way, I won’t come,” Khaleda told the court on Thursday (Jan 3).
The BNP chief appeared before the court of Dhaka Special Judge 9 Sheikh Hafizur Rahman, which has been set up a court at the premises of the old Dhaka central jail, where the former prime minister is serving terms after conviction on other graft charges.
On Thursday, the court heard the prosecution’s petition seeking to produce an FBI special agent and two members of the Canadian police to testify in the case.
Khaleda said, “Punish me as you (judges) like to. It’s not an open trial.”
An angry Khaleda then threw tantrums on the heavy police presence in the courtroom. “Why are there so many people?
“How will my lawyers attend the court if there are so many policemen?” she said.
Indictment hearing on Jan 13
The court also set Jan 13 to hear the charges against Khaleda and others in the Niko case.
Judge Hafizur set the date after her counsel Moudud prayed to the court for time extension as Khaleda felt unwell during the trial.
After the court adjourned, Khaleda spoke to her counsels–Moudud Ahmed and Mahbub Uddin Khokon for a while.
Responding to a query from the media on the Dec 30 election while she was being taken away on a wheelchair from the court, Khaleda said, “I have nothing to say.”
According to an investigation conducted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Khaleda Zia, then the prime minister, and her son Tarique Rahman received a portion of kickbacks via a proxy, paid by Canada-based Niko Resources Ltd, to lease some Sylhet gas fields.
According to the investigation reports, seen by Bangla Tribune, Khaleda and the then-law minister Moudud Ahmed played a key role in Canada-based Niko securing the contract.
After the BNP-led alliance government took office in 2001, Niko signed two deals with Bapex and PetroBangla.
One was a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) with Bapex to develop two “marginal” gas fields in Sylhet’s Chhatak and Feni in 2003, and the other was a Gas Purchase and Sales Agreement (GPSA) in 2006 with PetroBangla.
In a press briefing on Nov 22, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said his office pleaded to the court to include two Canadian police officials and an FBI agent to testify in the case.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lodged the case against Khaleda and 10 others in 2007.
On Nov 7, the law ministry issued a gazette notification indicating that the trial of Khaleda Zia and others accused in the Niko corruption case will be held at the makeshift court in Old Dhaka central jail.
The ministry issued the gazette notification transferring the court, citing security reasons.
Khaleda Zia has been in Dhaka Central Jail at Nazimuddin Road since she was sentenced to five years imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on Feb 8.
The HC on Oct 30 increased Khaleda Zia’s punishment to 10 years imprisonment in the case.
Khaleda Zia was also convicted in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case and was sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment by Special Judge Court-5 on Oct 29.