The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

A Dhaka court yesterday fixed January 30 and 31 for hearing an extortion case against detained Awami League president and former premier Sheikh Hasina after the Supreme Court cleared the decks for her trial by lifting a High Court stay early this week.

Metropolitan Sessions Judge M Azizul Huque will record the depositions in the case on January 30 and January 31 at his makeshift court in parliament building complex where the Awami League leader is detained in a temporary jail since she was arrested in July under military-backed government's anti-graft drive.

State counsel ABM Sarkar Sharfuddin Khan Mukul said plaintiff of the case businessman Azam J Chowdhury would testify before the court on January 30.

The High Court had on January 17 stayed the trial after Hasina's counsels contended that the case should not proceed under emergency rules since the the incident had taken place between 1996-2000 when she was in office, years before the state of emergency was imposed.

Hasina was arrested after businessman Azam J Chowdhury alleged that she extorted Tk 2.99 crore from him through her cousin former Health Minister Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim after threatening to cancel a power plant project.

Hasina has denied the charge and her party claimed the case was part of a conspiracy to prevent her from contesting elections.

Meanwhile, Chowdhury told reporters this that he did file the case "against Sheikh Hasina." He said Selim took the money from him in return for a deal and told him that he would get the deal done with the help of Hasina.

"I had not paid the money to Hasina. Nor did she demand it from me," he said.

Soon after assuming office in Jan last year, the interim government announced a massive anti-graft drive which has led to 52 high profile personalities, mostly politicians, being jailed, 21 of them for 10 years or more.

Meanwhile, Barrister Shafique Ahmed, a top counsel for the Awami League president, on Sunday filed an application before the High Court for quashing the case.

After filing the application, Barrister Shafique told reporters that after examining the FIR (First Information Report), charge sheet and other related documents, there have been found no ingredients to lodge allegation of extortion against Hasina. Hasina has been shown arrested in the "cooked-up case only to harass her and with a mala fide intention", the counsel said. He further contended that nothing found in the case that there has been any contact either directly or indirectly between Hasina and the complainant, Azam Chowdhury.

The motion will come up for hearing according to serial before a division bench comprising Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury and Justice M A Hye, the counsel informed..