Dhaka
Bangladesh’s High Court has acquitted former PM Khaleda Zia in a corruption case on Wednesday, overturning her seven-year sentence. Zia, 79, was convicted in 2018 in the Zia Charitable Trust case, where she was accused of misusing power to raise funds from unknown sources. She had been sentenced to seven years in prison and fined Tk 1 million by a lower court.
The HC, in a ruling on Wednesday, accepted Zia’s appeal and acquitted her, along with two other accused in the case. The graft case was filed in 2011 by the Anti-Corruption Commission, accusing Zia and others of financial misconduct involving the trust.
Zia, the leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), had already faced convictions in other corruption cases, including the Zia Orphanage Trust case in 2018. She had served time in prison but was released temporarily in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was fully freed in August 2023 following a presidential order.
Khaleda Zia served as Bangladesh’s PM twice, from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. Her acquittal marks a significant development in the ongoing legal battles she has faced.
