'They hurled abuse at the judge, accusing him of taking sides... The judge left the court after telling the lawyers that he would report their behaviour to the Supreme Court,' state prosecutor Mohammad Borhanuddin said.

Sheikh Hasina's lawyer, Kamrul Islam, accused the judge of refusing to allow the defence to cross-examine the plaintiff in the case - a businessman who says the former premier and her cousin extorted US$435,000 (S$615,199) from him.

The ex-premier, who led the country from 1996 to 2001, is one of around 150 high-profile figures arrested as part of a corruption crackdown by Bangladesh's emergency government, which took office in Jan 2007.

Sheikh Hasina, 60, has denied the charges, accusing the army-backed emergency government of trying to destroy her political career.

Khaleda Zia, the country's last elected premier and Sheikh Hasina's bitter rival, is also in detention on graft charges.

Since taking over in January last year Bangladesh's military-backed government has launched a massive crackdown aimed at cleaning up the country's notoriously corrupt politics before holding fresh elections in late 2008. -- AFP