A Dhaka court Wednesday acquitted BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and seven others in the Niko graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
As a result, Khaleda Zia was acquitted and discharged from all cases, including the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust graft cases, filed against her during the caretaker government in 2007 and the Awami League regime.
Judge Md Rabiul Alam of the Special Judge's Court-4 in Dhaka delivered the verdict after a detailed hearing on the case.
In the judgment, the judge said the prosecution has failed to prove the charges brought against Khaleda Zia and others. So, they are acquitted of the charges, it said.
The court observed that BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia was wrongly accused in the Niko graft case to politically harass her, as she was not involved in any corruption.
The seven other acquitted persons are businessman Giaus Uddin Al Mamun, former acting secretary for the energy ministry Khondaker Shahidul Islam, former Dhaka Club president Selim Bhuiyan, former senior assistant secretary CM Yusuf Hussain, former principal secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, former general manager of Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) Mir Moynul Haque, and former president of Niko Resources (Bangladesh) Limited Kashem Sharif.
Khaleda, who is currently in London for medical treatment, was represented by her lawyer Mohammad Ziauddin Zia.
Of the other accused, Kamal, Moynul, and Kashem are absconding, while four others were present during the judgment.
Following the acquittal order, Khaleda's lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukder told journalists that they had finally received justice from the court. The case was filed against the BNP chairperson solely to politically harass her.
The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case in December 2007, alleging that Khaleda and 10 others abused power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to the Canadian company Niko when she was Prime Minister between 2001 and 2006.
