Ex-Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia acquitted in graft case

Khaleda Zia was convicted by a Dhaka court in 2018. File Pic/AP

Bangladesh High Court on Wednesday acquitted former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Khaleda Zia in a corruption case in which she was sentenced to seven years in jail by a lower court, according to media reports. Zia, 79, was convicted in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in 2018 by a Dhaka court. It also sentenced her to seven years imprisonment under the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government and fined her Tk 1 million.

A bench of Justices AKM Asaduzzaman and Syed Enayet Hossain overturned the decision based on an appeal by Zia. Two others accused in the case were also acquitted by the court. The graft case was filed in 2011 by the Anti-Corruption Commission, accusing Zia and three others of abusing power to raise funds for the trust from unknown sources.

Zia was lodged in the Old Dhaka Central Jail on February 8, 2018, after a special court sentenced her to five years in prison in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. On October 30, 2018, the High Court raised her punishment to 10 years. Later, she was convicted in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever