Niko case: Court to rehear Khaleda’s charge exemption plea on Mar 18

A Dhaka court has fixed Mar 18 for a partial hearing on BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s petition seeking exemption in the Niko corruption case.

The case proceedings are being held at a temporary courtroom of Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-9 at Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj.

Khaleda’s lawyer Masum Ahmed Talukder attended the hearing on behalf of her.

“The prime minister preceding Khaleda Zia signed the Niko contract. Khaleda Zia simply implemented it. Therefore it’s not proper to bring charges against her in this case,” he said.

After a partial hearing on Tuesday, Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman set Mar 18 for the rest of the hearing.

The hearing for framing charges in the Niko graft case was deferred several times due to Khelda’s request for more time citing the ‘lack of safety’ amid the pandemic.

“Khaleda Zia was not brought to the court as she was ill in jail. The hearings were postponed due to that. It was not our failure,” lawyer Masum Ahmed told bdnews24.com.

The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case on Dec 9, 2007 after the BNP chief was arrested by the military-backed caretaker government.

Charges were pressed against 11 people, including Khaleda, on May 5, 2008, for allegedly causing a loss of Tk 137 billion to the state by awarding the gas exploration contract to Niko Resources, a Canadian oil and gas company.

Khaleda is already serving prison sentences of 10 years and seven years in two corruption cases.

On Mar 25 last year, following the outbreak of coronavirus in the country, the government stayed the effectiveness of the court sentence in an executive order and released Khaleda for six months on condition of receiving treatment at home and not travelling abroad. Later, the prison-term suspension was extended by six months.