B'desh Islamic party chief gets bail in graft case

The chief of Bangladesh's biggest Islamic party, arrested by the military-backed government in May on graft charges, was on Monday granted two-month bail by the High Court.

A bench comprising judges Sharfuddin Chaklader and Emdadul Haque granted interim bail to Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami and sought an explanation from the government as to why he should not be granted permanent bail, court officials said.

The court order came after Nizami's lawyers cited technical flaws in the investigation process against the top leader of the fundamentalist party, an ally of former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Police arrested Nizami two months ago on a court warrant in a graft case in which Zia, her younger son Arafat Rahman Koko and five other former ministers are also accused.

The interim government in emergency-ruled Bangladesh launched a massive anti-graft campaign last year that saw the detention or imprisonment of over 150 influential people, including Zia and her arch rival Sheikh Hasina of Awami League.

According to the chargesheet, Nizami and others connived to award "unqualified" Global Agro Trade Company (GATCO) the task of handling containers at the Inland Container Depot in Dhaka and at southeastern Chittagong Port allegedly in exchange of kickbacks.

Nizami's lawyers said there was no obstacle to the leader's release as he was not facing any other case.