Court Reporter //

The court has acquitted eight people including BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Niko corruption case.

The court of Judge Rabiul Alam of Dhaka’s Special Judge Court-4 announced the verdict on Wednesday.

Earlier, on February 13, after the defense hearing and presentation of arguments by the accused, the court fixed the date for the verdict. That day, the defense hearing and presentation of arguments by the accused in the case was to be held. The accused claimed their innocence in the defense hearing. The main accused in the case, Khaleda Zia, could not appear in court as she was out of the country for medical treatment. Advocate Aminul Islam appeared on her behalf.

Then, the ACC presented its arguments. They expected the maximum sentence for the accused. Later, the defense lawyers finished presenting their arguments. They prayed for acquittal, saying that the charges against the accused were not proven.

Earlier, the testimony of the case ended on February 5. Out of 68 witnesses, 39 have testified in this case.

Khaleda Zia’s lawyer Abdul Hannan Bhuiyan confirmed these information. Earlier, on March 19 last year, the same court framed charges against the accused.

The ACC filed the Niko corruption case against Khaleda Zia in 2007. ACC Assistant Director Muhammad Mahbubul Alam filed the case at Tejgaon Police Station in the capital as the plaintiff. On May 5, 2008, the ACC submitted a charge sheet to the court against 11 people including Khaleda Zia.

The remaining accused in the case are BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed, former State Minister for Energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain, then Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, former Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Khandaker Shahidul Islam, former Senior Assistant Secretary CM Yusuf Hossain, former General Manager of Bapex Mir Moynul Haque, former Secretary of Bapex Md. Shafiur Rahman, businessman Gias Uddin Al Mamun, Chairman of International Travel Corporation Selim Bhuiyan and Vice President of South Asia Affairs of Niko Kashem Sharif.

Of these, AKM Mosharraf Hossain and Barrister Moudud Ahmed have been discharged from the case due to their deaths.

The ACC chargesheet states that during the period between 2001 and 2006, Khaleda Zia and several others abused their power to illegally provide gas exploration and extraction facilities to the Canadian company. The chargesheet alleges that the accused caused a state financial loss of approximately Tk 13,777 crore.

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