Dhaka, June 1 (bdnews24.com)—A Dhaka court has acquitted all the five suspects, including former Air Force chief Jamaluddin Ahmed, of charges in the MiG-29 corruption case.
Dhaka's special district judge Mohammad Abdul Majid on Wednesday gave the order in presence of all the accused.
The remaining four are former air commodore Mirza Akhter Maruf, former defence secretary Syed Yousuf Hossain, former joint defence secretary Mohammad Hossain Serniyabat and Unique Group managing director Noor Ali.
The High Court earlier had cleared incumbent prime minister Sheikh Hasina of the case, filed during the four-party coalition government's tenure.
In his immediate reaction, Jamaluddin told reporters, "The case was filed intentionally for harassment and it has been a source of harassment over the last 10 years."
Terming the case 'politically motivated', he said this sort of political culture should be done away with.
Asked whether the case was resolved quickly for political reasons since testimonies of as many as 26 people were recorded on May 4, Jamaluddin replied, "It is a matter of the court. We should not comment on this."
Another accused Noor Ali told bdnews24.com that the case was politically motivated and was meant solely to harass which had been proven by the verdict.
State counsel of the case Shahin Ahmed Khan told reporters there were no allegations of embezzlement in the case statement and the charge sheet, but of misuse of money. And yet the court framed charges for embezzlement of funds.
"The accused were acquitted for this contradiction. The investigation officer either neglected or committed a mistake in the investigation."
Counsel Shahin pointed out that the investigating officer did not even seize the evidence in the case. "He could have seized the MiG-29 fighter, though it need not be shown in the court."
Asked if they would appeal the verdict, he explained that it would be decided after getting the copy of the verdict in hand.
Then the Bureau of Anti-Corruption's officer Abdullah Al Zahid, now the deputy director of the Anti-Corruption Commission, had filed the case against Hasina, naming her the prime accused, and eight others with Tejgaon Police Station on Dec 11, 2001.
According to the case documents, the state coffers counted around Tk 70 billion in losses when they purchased eight war planes for their own financial gains during Hasina's term as prime minister in 1999.
After the investigation, on Aug 20, 2008 the court framed charges against seven, including Hasina. An accused in the case, former army chief retired general Mustafizur Rahman died on Aug 3, 2008.
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