Hasina falls sick in courtroom

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Detained former premier Sheikh Hasina fell sick during a hearing at the special courtroom on charge framing against her in a Tk 3 crore extortion case yesterday.

Later, the Metropolitan Session’s Judge’s Court adjourned the proceedings till today as the defence could not complete examining the evidence produced by the prosecution.

Hasina and Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, her cousin and co-accused in the case filed by Azam J Chowdhury, were in the court since it sat at 9:30am.

At around 11:30am, the former premier’s counsel said Hasina, also president of Awami League (AL), was feeling ill and should be allowed to go back to the subjail for rest.

As Judge Mohammad Azizul Haque asked for opinion on the issue, the prosecution lawyers said

they do not have any problem but the defence should come up with a petition.

Following a written prayer by Hasina’s lawyers, the court granted the permission and asked the security personnel to take her back to the subjail, a special prison set up in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex.

Before leaving the dock at 12:15pm, Hasina was sweating heavily prompting her relatives to give her a towel. Visibly exhausted, she was frequently wiping her face on the towel.

The ceiling fan over the dock was turned on to make her feel cooler.

Later, the defence lawyers informed the court about her fluctuating blood pressure and increased temperature.

Half an hour after the hearing began, the defence raised the issue of inadequate sitting arrangement in the courtroom. Hasina standing in the dock made a few observations.

Chief Public Prosecutor ABM Sarfuddin Khan Mukul at that time said she herself did not make larger courtrooms when she was the prime minister. The comment triggered a heated debate between the opposing lawyers that continued for 10 minutes.

In reply, Hasina said, “The annex building in the Supreme Court was established during my term and I never had to have courtrooms set up in parliament complex.”

Terming Mukul’s comment inciting, Sheikh Selim, also a former health minister, requested the court to order the chief PP to retract his words. As Mukul tried to justify his comment, the defence continued their protest and demanded immediate withdrawal.

The judge asked Mukul to withdraw the comment after Hasina’s chief counsel Shafique Ahmed drew his attention to the matter. The situation got back to normal as the chief prosecutor took his statement back.

The judge then asked everybody to keep discipline saying that anyone can make a mistake.

Earlier in the morning, the prosecution placed the evidence before the court. On December 26, they were asked to produce the evidence yesterday so that the defence lawyers could look at those.

Hasina’s lawyers complained of anomalies and inconsistency in the evidence. They examined those till 4:30pm but could not finish the job.

The lawyers said the evidence that has so far been checked include the deeds signed between Power Development Board and Techno Prom Export, a Russian power generation company, in 1995 and 2000, and Hasina’s sister Sheikh Rehana’s entrance and exit records at the Ganobhaban during the time of occurrence.

Shafique said the case is baseless as Azam Chowdhury, the complainant, is not an agent of the Russian company that obtained the work order. Azam in the case statement claimed that his company Eastcoast Trading Private Ltd was appointed the local agent of the Russian company when the AL was in power.

“The contract was awarded in accordance with the law. Moreover, it had strict terms and conditions restricting scope for exerting any influence,” Shafique contended.

“The case has been filed as part of a plan to keep me away from the election,” he quoted Hasina as saying.

THE CASE

Azam J Chowdhury, managing director of Eastcoast Trading Pvt Ltd, filed the case against Hasina and Selim with the Gulshan Police Station on June 13 last year.

He accused the two of taking Tk 2.99 crore from him after awarding a power plant contract.

Later, the investigation officer (IO) included Rehana’s name in the charge sheet submitted on July 24.

A court accepted the charge sheet, issued a warrant for Rehana’s arrest and ordered confiscation of her property.

Law enforcement agencies arrested Hasina on July 16 and the same day a magistrate’s court sent her to the subjail.

The supplementary charge sheet was submitted on December 2.

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