The trial of a former Bangladeshi prime minister accused of extortion was adjourned Monday after defense lawyers requested time to examine new evidence presented by police.
Ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and two relatives are alleged to have received kickbacks in return for allowing a businessman to build a power plant, said Mahbube Alam, one of the lawyers in Hasina's defense team.
In June, businessman Azam J. Chowdhury, managing director of Eastcoast Trading Ltd., filed a case against Hasina, her sister, Sheikh Rehana, and their cousin, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, alleging they took money from him to permit the plant to go ahead.
Selim, a former government minister, stood beside Hasina in court Monday. Rehana, who lives in London, will be tried in absentia.
They are charged with demanding and receiving 30 million takas (US$444,227; euro303,668) from Chowdhury. If found guilty they face up to 14 years in jail.
Judge Azizul Hoque agreed Monday to adjourn proceedings until Dec. 9 after the defense team asked for time to examine new evidence submitted by police investigators on Sunday, Hasina's lawyers said.
On the basis of the new evidence, the court will have to decide whether any additional charges are to be filed, chief public prosecutor Sharfuddin Khan said.
Selim, meanwhile, retracted a confessional statement given to police earlier, saying it was extracted under duress, his lawyer Syed Rezaul Rahman told the court.
Selim's statement had implicated Hasina and Rehana in the extortion case.
Rehana was not actively involved in politics, but allegedly made her fortune by negotiating government contracts during her sister's 1996-2001 term in office.
Hasina and her political rival Khaleda Zia _ also a former prime minister _ were both arrested for alleged corruption and abuse of power as part of an anti-corruption crackdown by the country's current military-backed interim government.
The trial of Hasina and Selim is being held in a makeshift courtroom inside the national Parliament complex on the grounds of security. Their lawyers petitioned unsuccessfully Monday to have the trial transferred to Dhaka's regular court building.
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