Bangladesh Opposition Leader Jailed For Five Years In Corruption Case

Dhaka, Bangladesh – A court in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, has sentenced former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to five years in jail in a corruption case.

Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman of the Special Court-5 on Thursday sentenced the two-time former prime minister to rigorous imprisonment. He read out some selective parts of the 632-page verdict.

“The verdict proves no one is above the law,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Haque said after the verdict that was announced amid tight security.

Zia, the chairperson of the country’s main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), along with five others, was accused of embezzlement of funds meant for the Zia Orphanage Trust.

Tarique Rahman, Zia’s elder son and believed to be her political heir, and four others were given 10 years in the politically significant case ahead of the general elections due to be held in December.

Zia was catapulted into Bangladeshi politics in the early 1980s when her husband former President Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated.

She became the Muslim-majority country’s first female prime minister in 1991 after democracy was restored.

In the 35 years of her political career, Zia has spent times in jail on a number of occasions. This is for the first time, she has been convicted.

Zia faces a total of 37 cases out of which chargesheets have been submitted in 17 cases.

After skipping the hearings for as much as 143 times over the last six years, Zia finally appeared before the court on October 19, 2017 and obtained bail.

Asif Nazrul, Professor of law of Dhaka University, calls it “a controversial verdict”. “There are many people in the country who will view this as a politically-motivated verdict.”

Nazrul said many people will see that as a tactic for removing the main contender in the election and a way of “demonising a political opponent”.

Source: Al Jazeera