BNP chief Khaleda Zia, 7 others acquitted in Niko graft case

The verdict clears the BNP chief in the 2008 case for allegedly costing the state Tk 137 billion in losses by awarding a gas exploration contract to Niko Resources, a Canadian oil and gas company

A Dhaka court has cleared BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and seven others of corruption charges stemming from the Niko gas exploration and extraction deal.

Judge Rabiul Alam of the Dhaka Special Judge's Court No. 4 delivered the verdict in the case on Wednesday.

Khaleda, a former prime minister, is currently in London for medical treatment.

The seven others acquitted in the case are Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, principal secretary to the former prime minister, Khandaker Shahidul Islam, former acting secretary of the energy and mineral resources ministry, CM Yusuf Hussain, former senior assistant secretary, Meer Moynul Haque, former senior general manager of BAPEX, businessman Gias Uddin Al Mamun, Salim Bhuiyan, chairman of International Travel Corporation, and Kashem Sharif, vice president (South Asia) of Niko Resources Bangladesh Ltd.

Three other suspects -- BNP Standing Committee member Moudud Ahmed, former state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain and former BAPEX secretary Barrister Moudud Ahmed -- were exempted from the case after their deaths.

The Anti-Corruption Commission, or ACC, filed the Niko graft 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, in 2008, for allegedly costing the state Tk 137 billion in losses by awarding a gas exploration contract to Niko Resources, a Canadian oil and gas company.

The court indicted Khaleda and seven others accused in the case on Mar 19, opening the trial 16 years after the anti-graft watchdog filed the suit. As many as 39 of 68 witnesses testified in court during the trial.