A Dhaka court on Thursday summoned Royal Canadian Mounted Police members Kevin Duggan and Lloyd Schoepp to testify against eight people including BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia 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 summons for them to come to the court on October 30 to testify.
On this day, the questioning of the then assistant director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Muhammad Mahbubul Alam, was scheduled. Khaleda's lawyer represented her during the proceedings. Subsequently, Khaleda Zia and the other defendants were interrogated by their respective lawyers. Following the interrogation, the court scheduled the next testimony for October 30.
Earlier, on September 17, the court a 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.
The witnesses are retired FBI supervisory special agent Debra LaPrevotte Griffith and Royal Canadian Mounted Police members Kevin Duggan and Lloyd Schoepp.
Khaleda Zia's lawyers Zia Uddin Zia and Hannan Bhuiyan provided the information.
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.
