Online Desk: BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia today filed a criminal revision petition with the High Court, challenging the legality of a lower court order that granted permission to three foreign witnesses to testify against her and eight others in the Niko corruption case.

Khaleda, in the petition, said there was no law in Bangladesh that allowed any foreign witness to give statement before a Bangladesh court against its citizens, her lawyer Barrister Kayser Kamal told The Daily Star. He said the HC will hold hearing of the petition when it will be included in the cause list of the court. A Dhaka court recently granted permission for a former official of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to testify in the case. The witnesses are retired FBI supervisory special agent Debra LaPrevotte Griffith and Royal Canadian Mounted Police members Kevin Duggan and Lloyd Schoepp. On March 19, the court officially charged the accused, including Khaleda, in the case.

Khaleda, who is currently out on bail, pleaded not guilty through her lawyer, Masud Ahmed Talukder, on that day and demanded justice. The other individuals accused in the case are Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, Khandaker Shahidul Islam, CM Eusuf Hossain, Mir Moinul Haque, Gias Uddin Al Mamun, Selim Bhuiyan, and Kashem Sharif. The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case against five people, including Khaleda, with Tejgaon Police Station on December 9, 2007, for abusing power in signing a deal with the Canadian company Niko for exploring and extracting gas. On May 5, 2008, the ACC pressed charges against 11 people, including Khaleda. The ACC accused them of causing a loss of more than Tk 13,000 crore to the state exchequer by signing that deal.