BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will surrender before a trial court in the Niko graft case, her lawyer has said.“She will appear before the court of Dhaka’s Special Judge on Monday”, her counsel Mahbub Uddin Khokon told bdnews24.com.
On June 18, the High Court scrapped Khaleda’s petition questioning the legality of case and lifted a freeze on the case proceedings.
It also ordered the former prime minister to surrender before the court within two months after receiving the court order.
The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case on December 9, 2007 after the BNP chairperson was arrested by the military-backed caretaker government.
Charges were pressed against 11 people, including Khaleda, on May 5, 2008, for allegedly causing a loss of Tk 137 billion to the state by awarding the gas exploration job to a Canadian company, Niko Resources.
The High Court on July 9, 2008 stayed proceedings of the graft case and issued a ruling after Khaleda filed the petition. The stay order was upheld by the Appellate Division.
The case has been stuck for the last seven years until the ACC moved to revive it earlier this year.
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