Staff correspondent

A Dhaka court on Wednesday acquitted BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and seven other accused in the sensational Niko graft case.

Judge of Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 Md Rabiul Alam passed the order, said the court’s peshkar (assistant) Md Belal Hossain.

Earlier on February 13, the court set February 19 to deliver the judgment after hearing from both defence and prosecution, he said.

On February 5, the recording of the testimony from the witnesses ended while 39 out of 68 witnesses gave the testimonies.

On December 9, 2007, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case accusing Khaleda and four others of causing a loss of Tk 137.77 billion to the state by signing an oil and gas exploration deal with Canadian company Niko on behalf of the state that was deemed against Bangladesh’s national interests and swayed by graft.

The anti-graft body pressed charges in court against 11 people, including Khaleda, in May 2008.

The other accused in the case are former principal secretary Kamal Uddin Siddique, Khandaker Shahidul Islam, CM Yusuf Hossain, former Bapex general manager Mir Mainul Haq, Giasuddin Al Mamun, former parliamentarian MAH Selim and former vice-president of South Asia affairs of Niko Kashem Sharif.

Among the accused, BNP Standing Committee Member Barrister Moudud Ahmed, former state minister AKM Mosharraf Hossain and former secretary of Bapex Shafiur Rahman died during the trial proceedings.

Khaleda was sent to the Old Dhaka Central Jail as a lower court sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8, 2018. Later, she was found guilty and convicted in another corruption case the same year.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail through an executive order suspending her sentence on March 25, 2020, with the condition that she stay in her Gulshan house and not leave the country.

Following the political changeover in the country on August 5 last, Khaleda Zia, her party men and followers of other political parties are being acquitted in cases.

On January 8, the BNP chairperson moved to London for advanced treatment and now is staying there with her family members.