Ex-Bangladesh PM goes on trial for corruption
DHAKA (AFP) — Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed went on trial for corruption on Wednesday, facing accusations that she extorted 435,000 dollars from a power company owner, officials said.
Sheikh Hasina, leader of the Awami League party, stood in the dock of a special fast-track court alongside her cousin and co-accused, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, prosecutor Mohammad Borhanuddin said.
The former premier, who led the country from 1996 to 2001, is one of around 150 high-profile figures arrested as part of a corruption crackdown by Bangladesh's emergency government, which took office in January 2007.
The trial opened with power company owner Azam J. Chowdhury, the plaintiff in the case, telling the court that he gave 30 million taka (435,000 dollars) to Sheikh Hasina's cousin in 2000, the prosecutor said.
"He told the court he was threatened by Selim that if he failed to pay the money, the prime minister would disrupt his power project," Borhanuddin said.
"He said that Selim had told him that part of the money would be given to the prime minister. He said after he handed over the money to Selim, he was never disturbed again," the prosecutor added.
Sheikh Hasina, 60, has denied the charges, accusing the army-backed emergency government of trying to destroy her political career.
Her lawyer, Kamrul Islam, said the power company owner "could only identify Selim as the accused," and not the former prime minister.
Wearing a sari, Hasina smiled regularly during the two hours she stood in the dock, a witness said. The room was packed with dozens of defence lawyers, journalists and security official, lawyers said.
The trial is to resume again on February 4 when the plaintiff is expected to be cross-examined by the defence lawyers.
Dozens of supporters and leaders of Sheikh Hasina's party muzzled their mouth with black badges to protest against the trial, with hundreds of police in riot gear guarding the parliament complex, witnesses said.
Hasina faces a maximum 14 years in jail if convicted. The trial is expected to be concluded within the next two months, as required under the country's emergency rules.
Her sister, Sheikh Rehana, who is currently in London, was also indicted in the case.
Khaleda Zia, the country's last elected premier, is also under detention on graft charges. She and Sheikh Hasina are bitter rivals and known as the "Battling Begums," and are blamed for 16 years of misrule and rampant corruption.
Bangladesh's military-backed government has launched a massive crackdown aimed at cleaning up the country's notoriously corrupt politics before holding fresh elections in late 2008.
The country has been under emergency rule since January 11 last year, when polls were cancelled after months of violence over vote-rigging allegations made by the Awami League against Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
