A Dhaka court has ordered former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and all other accused persons to appear on August 20 when it will frame charges in the MiG-29 warplanes purchase corruption case, reports bdnews24.com.
Judge Golam Mortuza Mojumdar of Dhaka Divisional Special Judge's Court gave the order Tuesday in his special courtroom set up in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex.
The court concluded charge-framing proceedings in the case on July 31.
Hasina, currently in the US seeking medical treatment, had been exempted from personal appearance in the case on June 9.
On August 5, the government extended the temporary release period of the Awami League president for one month, after a plea by her husband, to September 6.
Public prosecutor ABM Sharfuddin Ahmed Mukul told the news agency that the court ordered all accused persons in the case to appear on August 20.
Hasina's lawyer advocate Yusuf Hossain Humayun asked the court not to frame charges until his client returned home.
"It is mandatory for the accused to be present in the court during charge-framing even if he/she is exempted from personal appearance," said the judge.
But Sharfuddin said it was not mandatory to be present during charge framing if one was exempted from court appearance.
As the defendant's lawyers participated in the charge-framing proceedings, it (charge framing) should go ahead without further delay, said the public prosecutor.
Lawyer SM Kamrul Hassan informed the court that his client former army chief Mustafizur Rahman, another accused person in the case, died on August 3 and submitted the death certificate.
The now defunct Anti-corruption Bureau filed the case on December 11, 2001.
