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Download PDF Detained Awami League President Sheikh Hasina yesterday said she would not leave politics on anyone’s dictates.
She made the comments to her lawyers after the court trying the MiG-29 graft case against her and six others adjourned the hearing on charge framing till May 4.
“Everyone in the present caretaker government that wants to keep me from politics by filing cases must remember I won’t give up politics on anyone’s instructions.
“It would be me and my people who would decide whether I should continue to be in politics,” one of the counsels for the former prime minister quoted her as saying.
The comments came at a time when speculation was rife that she might quit politics.
Speaking again of her fear that she would not get justice, the AL chief said, “It’s not about justice, it’s rather about punishing me.”
During 20 minutes that the Dhaka Divisional Special Sessions Judge’s Court allowed her for conversation with the lawyers, she also talked about “whitening of black money by Dr Kamal Hossain”.
“Black money is black and I wonder how could that be whitened? There’s no way to amass black money without corruption,” the defence counsel quoted Hasina as saying.
Turning to separation of the judiciary from the executive, she said people have been deceived into believing that the judiciary is independent.
Earlier, Judge Golam Mortoza Majumder suspended the day’s hearing as the lawyer defending former army chief Mustafizur Rahman, another accused in the case, declined to present submissions in absence of his client.
Mustafiz, now on bail, could not appear before the court for illness while the rest six were present.
The hearing on charge framing was supposed to begin on April 20. But the court set up on the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises had called a recess until yesterday as Hasina could not be produced before it due to illness.
The other accused in the case are former air force chief Jamaluddin Ahmed, Air Commodore (retd) Mirza Akhter Maruf, former joint secretary Mohammad Hossain Serniabat, former defence secretary Syed Yusuf Hossain and Managing Director of Unique Group Nur Ali.
According to the case filed with Tejgaon Police Station against Hasina and four top defence officials, the purchase of eight MiG-29 fighter planes during the tenure of AL government caused a loss of Tk 700 crore to the public exchequer.
Names of Brig Gen (retd) Iftekhar-Ul-Bashar and former deputy secretary Hasan Mahmood Delwar were dropped for lack of evidence while Mustafizur Rahman, Air Commodore (retd) Mirza Akhter Maruf, former joint secretary Hossain Serniabat and businessman Nur Ali were included as accused after investigators found their involvement in the alleged scam.
Inspector Abdullah Al Zahid of the now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption submitted the charge sheet to Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court on December 11, 2001.
The High Court had stayed the proceedings in response to petitions filed by the accused.
The Supreme Court on March 18 this year dismissed the petitions against reviving the case and cleared the way for the long-stalled proceedings to resume.
The military-backed interim administration has relocated the court to Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex on security grounds.
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