Azam seeks to drop case against Hasina

Businessman Azam J Chowdhury will discontinue the extortion case he filed against Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina and her cousin Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim about one and a half years back.
He already submitted an application to the home ministry yesterday, seeking an executive order for withdrawal of the case through the court concerned.
Speaking at a press briefing at his Gulshan office at around 11:00am, he said, “The case against Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Selim was filed due to some misunderstanding in the adverse circumstances prevailing at that time.”
Azam, managing director of East Coast Trading Ltd, termed the filing of the case an undesirable experience for him.
Replying to a query, he said, "I'm withdrawing the charges as a matter of principle, and out of respect for democracy and fundamental rights. I hope this would put an end to all misunderstanding."
Asked what he would do if Hasina sues for defamation, he said, "I'm confident she won't do anything like that. As the daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and a former prime minister, she is respectful to democracy.”
Queried if he is pulling back under pressure from any quarters, he replied, “Long before now I had said I didn't file the case directly against Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana. They were implicated following Selim's statement.”
Especially, he added, Rehana's name being on the charge sheet is still a mystery to him.
About the sums paid to Selim, AL presidium member and also former health minister, he said it was his remuneration as a consultant for his firm, and in no way an illegal payment.
He said he would oblige if retracting the case requires him to be at the court.
Talking to reporters on January 24, he asked why he would file a case against someone respected like Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of the father of the nation.
He also complained that the perception about the case was flawed.
That was the first time Azam spoke in public about the matter since he sued Hasina and Selim on June 13 last year for receiving Tk 2.99 crore for winning the deal of setting up a 210-megawatt power plant at Siddhirganj in Narayanganj.
Azam's firm is the local agent of a Russian company that won the contract. He was nowhere to be seen for three days before showing up at the Gulshan Police Station to file the case that was first against a former prime minister under the present caretaker government.
Hasina was arrested at her Dhanmondi residence on extortion charges on July 16. Her detention followed Selim's.
Gulshan police submitted charge sheet in the case on July 24. Alongside the AL chief and Selim, they pressed charges against Rehana, who has long been settled in London.
The proceedings have been halted following a High Court order in response to a writ petition that the AL chief filed challenging the legality of the case and its trial.