Gatco Graft Case

Staff Correspondent

Detained former prime minister Khaleda Zia was produced in a Dhaka court Wednesday morning for charge framing proceedings in the Gatco graft case.

Khaleda was brought to judge Shahed Nuruddin's special court at around 10:15 am from the nearby special jail on the Sangsad Bhaban complex.
 
The former prime minister's detained younger son Arafat Rahman Coco, also accused in the case, was not produced for the hearing as he has been exempted from court appearance on medical grounds. Other accused were present in the Special Judge's Court-3.
 
Charge framing in the case began on June 30, when public prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajol read out 22 allegations brought against the accused. The prosecution was continuing with its charges through Wednesday.
 
Khaleda, Coco and 23 others accused in the case are charged with awarding Gatco a contract for handling containers at depots in Dhaka and Chittagong that incurred huge losses to the state.
 
Misuse of power and collusion among the accused in violating the tender conditions are among the charges brought under the case.
 
Khaleda and Coco were arrested from their Dhaka Cantonment residence on September 3 last year a day after the filing of the case.
 
The ACC filed the case against Khaleda and 12 others initially. The antigraft body pressed charges on May 13 this year against a total of 25 people.
 
The name of former shipping minister Akbar Hossain, one of the original accused, was dropped from the chargesheet after his death.
 
Seven people accused in the case are still absconding.
 
The case was initially set for trial under metropolitan senior special judge Md Azizul Haque, but the case proceedings were later shifted to the special court on security grounds.

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