Khaleda Zia told to appear in court over graft case in April

Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was on Tuesday ordered to appear before a court on April 13 to face trial in a $1.85-million graft case over contracting out cargo handling work to a company in exchange of kickbacks, a week after the high court lifted a stay on proceedings of the nearly a decade old case.

Dhaka’s third special judge’s court asked the 70-year-old Opposition leader to appear on April 13 as the high court cleared ways for her trial in the case, a court official said.

Judge Abu Ahmed Jamadar also ordered personal appearance of 12 other co-accused of the case on the same day alongside the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief.

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case in 2007 during the military-installed caretaker regime.

It accused the former Prime Minister of contracting out an “unqualified” company called GATCO the task of handling containers at the country’s main south-eastern seaport of Chittagong and Inland Container Depot in Dhak allegedly in exchange of kickbacks during the 2001-2006 tenure of her BNP-led four party coalition government.

According to the ACC, chargesheet the accused incurred a loss of more than Taka 145.63 million ($1.85 million) to the state exchequer by contracting out the cargo handling task to the company.

Ms Zia, her younger son Arafat Rahman Koko, six of her Cabinet colleagues in the past BNP-led four-party coalition government, and others including officials were charged in the case.