AMN
Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister and Opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia has been sentenced to five years in jail in a corruption case.
72-year-old Zia was sentenced by a special court in the capital, Dhaka, in connection with embezzlement of 252,000 US dollar in foreign donations meant for the Zia Orphanage Trust.
In the same case, her son Tarique Rahman and four others have been sentenced to 10 years in jail.
On November 30, 2014, Khaleda Zia lost her last ditch effort to evade the graft trial as the Supreme Court turned down her second ‘leave to appeal’ petition challenging her indictment and asked her to face trial in the lower court.
The high court earlier validated the trial in the lower court which on March 19, 2014 had indicted Zia on two graft charges brought by the Anti Corruption Commission.
Zia, who headed the Bangladesh government twice (1991-1996 and 2001-2006), has repeatedly pleaded not-guilty and claimed she was a victim of “political witch hunt”, masterminded by rival and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Although she has been named in 13 cases of corruption, violence and sedition and has put under house arrest several times this is the first sentence against the BNP leader. The sentence means she is barred from parliamentary polls due this year.
“Since the court has been able to prove the charges against her and considering her social and physical status, Zia has been sentenced to five years in jail,” the judge said.
Earlier, there were clashes between security forces and opposition protesters who had defied security measures to escort the car taking Zia to court.
Several police officers were injured in the violence a few kilometres from the court, reports said.
The trial against Zia centred around the donation intended for an orphanage trust set up when she was Prime Minister. The charges against her had already led to her boycotting elections in 2014, which triggered widespread protests at that time.