Niko case: Permission sought to produce US, Canadian lawmen as witnesses

The prosecution of the Niko graft case, lodged against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and seven others, filed a plea with a Dhaka court on Tuesday seeking permission for producing an official of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and two officials of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as witnesses in the case.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajal presented the application, submitted by Attorney General AM Amin Uddin, to Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Dhaka Special Judge's Court 9 at Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj.

The court fixed 17 September for a hearing on the application.

The court also recorded the statements of ACC Deputy Director Muhammad Mahbubul Alam, who is the plaintiff and investigating officer of the case.

While testifying in court as a key witness, Mahbubul Alam said Canadian oil and gas firm Niko signed two separate deals with Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) and Petrobangla under the direct support of BNP Chairperson and the then prime minister Khaleda Zia.

Niko signed the deals — joint venture agreement and gas purchase and sales agreement — with Bapex and Petrobangla in 2003 and 2006, respectively.

"She [Khaleda Zia] in connivance with others aided the signing of the deals, which cost the country around Tk10,000 crore," Mahbubul said.

A huge commotion broke out between the pro-government and pro-BNP lawyers in the courtroom during the testimony.

The same court framed charges against Khaleda Zia and seven others in the graft case on 19 March.

On 30 August, the High Court (HC) cleared the way for trial proceedings against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Niko corruption case.

Among the seven accused, four — former acting secretary for energy ministry Khondaker Shahidul Islam, its former senior assistant secretary CM Yusuf Hussain, Mamun and Selim Bhuiyan — are currently on bail.

Three of the accused in the case — including former state minister for energy and BNP leader AKM Mosharraf Hossain and former law minister Moudud Ahmed — died and their names were dropped from the charge sheet.

The ACC filed the case with Tejgaon police station on 9 December 2007, accusing Khaleda and several others of abusing power in signing a deal with Canadian company Niko for exploring and extracting gas.

The anti-graft body submitted the charge sheet on 5 May 2008. The ACC accused them of incurring a loss of more than Tk130 billion (13,000 crore) of state exchequer by signing that deal.