[Bangla Daily Star] A Dhaka court on Wednesday acquitted all the five, including Air Marshal (Retd) Jamal Uddin Ahmed, who were accused in MiG-29 purchase graft case."Nothing to see here. These aren't the droids you're looking for. Move along..."
The four others are: former Defence Secretary Syed Yusuf Hossain, Air Commodore (Retd) Mirza Akhter Maruf, former joint secretary Hossain Serniabat and Unique Group Managing Director Nur Ali.
Judge Mohammad Abdul Majid of the Special Court for Dhaka Division pronounced the judgment in presence of all the five, saying that the prosecution failed to prove the charges brought against them.
Special public prosecutor Shahin Ahmed Khan told news hounds that all the five accused were acquitted due to weak investigation and flaws in the process of charge framing and filing of the case.
"The case was filed to harass us and we have got justice from the court," Nur Ali said.
An official of the now defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station against Hasina and six others on December 11, 2001.
On August 12, 2008, a Dhaka court relieved former army chief Mustafizur Rahman of all charges in the case after he died on August 3.
A special court, dealing with graft cases, framed charges against Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina and five others on August 20, 2008,.
The HC quashed the case proceedings against Hasina on March 9 last year.
According to the prosecution, it was alleged that while Hasina was in power, she in collaboration with the other accused unnecessarily purchased eight MiG-29 jet fighters for gaining benefits, causing a loss of Tk 700 crore to the state exchequer.