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MiG-29 Purchase Scam

Hearing adjourned until July 3

Staff Correspondent
The hearing on charge framing in the MiG-29 warplane purchase scam case against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and six others will resume on July 3.
Judge Golam Mortuza Majumder of the Special Judge's Court, Dhaka division adjourned the hearing after an hour yesterday and set a date for the next hearing.
Hasina's counsel argued for quashing of all charges against her in the case.
Hasina's attorney Barrister Shafique Ahmed said this is the first time in the history of the country that the entire armed forces have been dragged to a court in an alleged graft case, which is a very dangerous move for any nation, and democracy.
He said the allegation of the prosecution does not stand as the purchase deal was made in compliance with all prescribed government rules.
Narrating the case history, Barrister Shafique said the process was imitated in 1992 during the BNP rule following a devastating cyclone in 1991 that damaged several aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force in Chittagong.
He said the purchase process was initiated by the BNP government in 1991 and was implemented during the Awami League rule in 1996.
He further told the court that the bidding prices for the eight MiG-29 warplanes were USS 289 million and Hasina's government were able to bring down the price to USS 123m through state-to-state negotiations, saving the nation USS 166 million.
After an hour long hearing, the court adjourned the trial following time plea from the defence counsel.
Advocate Sahara Khatun represented Hasina as she had been exempted from appearing personally at trial proceedings in the court during her stay overseas for treat-
Former army chief Gen (retd) Mustafizur Rahman, also accused in the case, was produced before the court yesterday.
Other accused in the case are former air force chief Jamaluddin Ahmed, former defence secretary Syed Yusuf Hossain, Air Commodore (retd) Mirza Akhter Maruf, former joint secretary Mohammad Hossain Serniabat and Unique Group Managing Director Nur Ali.
The now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption (Bac) filed the case against Hasina and four others with the Tejgaon Police Station on December 11,2001, accusing them of causing a loss of Tk 700 crore to the national exchequer by purchasing eight MiG-29 jets while she was in power.