Former Bangladesh PM, Khaleda Zia, acquitted in corruption case

DHAKA: The former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia, was acquitted of corruption charges by the country’s High Court on Wednesday.

The head of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had previously received a seven-year sentence from a lower court in connection with the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case on October 29, 2018.

Read more: Bangladesh president orders release of jailed ex-PM and opposition chief Khaleda Zia

The Bangladesh High Court reverse the lower court’s ruling that had found Zia and two co-defendants guilty. The court’s decision came after Zia’s appeal, which was accepted on April 30, 2019.

It also included a suspension of part of the lower court’s ruling that imposed a fine of Rs2.3 million (৳100,000 Bangladeshi takka).

The country’s Anti-Corruption Commission initiated the case on August 8, 2011, at Tajgaon police station. The case alleged that Zia and three others had misappropriated funds meant for the trust from undisclosed sources.

Among the convicted was Zia’s former political aide, Harris Chowdhury, who has since passed away.

The 79-year-old was first imprisoned on February, 2018 after a special court sentenced her to five years in prison for a separate case involving the Zia Orphanage Trust.

The Bangladesh high court later increased her sentence to a decade. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the former prime minister was granted temporary release in March 2020 after serving 776 days incarcerated.  

Following a political shift in power, Zia was fully released on August, 2023 by an order from Bangladeshi President, Mohammad Shahabuddin.

Following her release, Khaleda Zia has visited the US embassy to finalise her visa application, Some sources claim she is traveling to the US for “specialised medical care”.

Read more: Former Bangladeshi PM not allowed to go abroad for healthcare

Zia served as the Bangladeshi PM from 1991 till 1996, and a second term from 2001 till 2006.