Dhaka13 minutes ago
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The Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Wednesday acquitted former Prime Minister and BNP leader Khaleda Zia in the corruption case. The Supreme Court overturned the High Court’s decision and rejected Khaleda’s 10-year sentence. He was released from jail in August last year.
The 79-year-old former Prime Minister had filed an appeal against the High Court’s decision. The bench headed by Chief Justice Dr. Syed Rafat gave its verdict. The court cited the intention of taking revenge against Khaleda and others as the reason behind the decision.
Apart from Khaleda Zia, BNP acting president Tariq Rahman and others have also been released, Dhaka Tribune reported. All of them were made guilty in the case related to Jiya Orphanage Trust scam.
Received 10 years sentence in 2018
Khaleda Zia was sentenced on 8 February 2018 by the Special Court of Dhaka on charges of embezzling government money in the name of Zia Orphanage Trust. Khaleda’s son Tariq and five other accused were also sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
A fine of 2.1 crore Bangladeshi taka was also imposed on him. Tariq and other two accused had absconded. Jiah had appealed against this decision in the High Court. While hearing this on October 30, 2018, the court had increased the punishment to 10 years.
After this, Khaleda had appealed for leave-to-appeal against the sentence i.e. to challenge the sentence directly in the Supreme Court. It was delayed for 5 years due to legal procedures.
However, the appeal was accepted in November last year after Sheikh Hasina left the country.
Khaleda is in London for treatment
Khaleda has been ill for a long time. Earlier this month, on January 7, she went to London for treatment. He was provided an air ambulance by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Haseena is suffering from liver cirrhosis, heart disease and kidney disease.
Khaleda Zia has been the Prime Minister of Bangladesh twice, from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006.
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