A Dhaka court has granted permission for a former official of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to testify against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and eight others in the Niko graft case.
Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Dhaka Special Judge Court 9 (temporary), located in Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj, issued the order after a hearing on Sunday.
The witnesses are retired FBI supervisory special agent Debra LaPrevotte Griffith and Royal Canadian Mounted Police members Kevin Duggan and Lloyd Schoepp.
On Tuesday, Attorney General AM Amin Uddin filed an application seeking permission to present the witnesses before the court. The court scheduled the next hearing for Sunday.
The court had initially scheduled a cross-examination of Mohammad Mahbubul Alam, who was then an assistant director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Khaleda Zia's lawyer represented her, and during the hearing, the plea to include three foreign witnesses was granted. The court set October 10 for the next hearing.
On March 19, the court officially charged the accused in the case. Khaleda, who is currently out on bail, pleaded not guilty through her lawyer, Masud Ahmed Talukder, on that day and demanded justice.
The other individuals accused in the case are Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, Khandaker Shahidul Islam, CM Eusuf Hossain, Mir Moinul Haque, Gias Uddin Al Mamun, Selim Bhuiyan, and Kashem Sharif.
The anti-graft body filed the case against five people, including Begum Khaleda Zia, at Tejgaon police station on December 9, 2007, for abusing power in signing a deal with the Canadian company Niko for exploring and extracting gas.
On May 5, 2008, the ACC pressed charges against 11 people, including Khaleda Zia. The ACC accused them of causing a loss of more than Tk13,000 crore to the state exchequer by signing that deal.