By IANS
Dhaka : A Dhaka court has directed the government to allow former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to meet and consult her lawyers in a corruption case.
Businessman Azam J. Chowdhury had filed the extortion case in June against Hasina, who is also the Awami League president, and her cousin and one-time political associate Abdul Karim Selim.
Chowdhury accused them of taking kickbacks of $480,000 (29 million taka) for awarding him a contract for installing a power plant in Siddhirganj, when Hasina was the prime minister (1996-2001).
On Monday, the former prime minister appeared for the first time before the court along with Selim. Both have denied the charge.
The metropolitan sessions judge, Azizul Haque issued the order Tuesday following separate petitions filed by Hasina’s counsel Monday, the local newspaper New Age reported Wednesday.
Besides this case, two other corruption charges and a murder case are pending against her. She is lodged in a special jail inside the parliament complex.
In a separate house in the same complex, her political rival, Begum Khaleda Zia, also is lodged for trial on corruption charges.