BNP chief Khaleda Zia says she was fit to appear in court, but was not taken by the authorities.

“I was ready to move to court but was not taken there. However, it was said that I was not willing to go. It was false,” she said as soon as she was produced before the court for Niko graft case on Sunday (Mar 3).

She was produced before the court of Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman at 12.34pm and the court proceedings continued till 1.48pm. The party’s Secretary General, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, sat beside Khaleda Zia during the court proceedings and had a conversation.

On Feb 20, jail authorities said before the court that Khaleda Zia was sleeping so, they were unable to produce her (Khaleda) before the court.

On Dec 9, 2007, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), filed a graft case with Tejgaon police station, accusing Khaleda Zia and 10 others of abusing power by awarding a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko, during her time in office as prime minister.

The commission submitted the charge sheet against the accused on May 5, 2008 with 11 people standing accused of causing the state a loss of Tk. 137.77 billion in a non-transparent and corrupt contract with Niko during the BNP regime.

Others accused in the case are former law minister, Moudud Ahmed, former state minister for energy, AKM Mosharraf Hossain, former acting energy secretary, Khandaker Shahidul Islam, Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, chief secretary of the then prime minister, former senior assistant secretary, CM Yousuf Hossain, former general manager of BAPEX, Mir Moinul Haque, former secretary Shafiur Rahman, Gias Uddin Al Mamun, former Bagerhat MP MAH Selim, and Kashem Sharif, vice-president (South Asia) of Niko Resources Bangladesh Ltd.

A three-time prime minister Khaleda is already serving a 10 year time for her involvement in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.