Khaleda acquitted in Zia charitable graft case
The High Court has acquitted BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, overturning her seven-year sentence in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.
The High Court bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain passed the order on Wednesday after granting Khaleda’s appeal against the sentence.
According to the complaint, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case on August 8, 2010, at Tejgaon Police Station, accusing Khaleda and three others of illegally transferring 3.15 crore taka (31.5 million) under the name of the Zia Charitable Trust.
On January 16, 2012, the investigation officer, ACC Deputy Director Harun-ur-Rashid, submitted a charge sheet against Khaleda Zia and three others. On March 19, 2014, Judge Basudev Roy of the Third Special Tribunal Court in Dhaka framed charges against the accused.
On October 29, 2018, Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman of Dhaka's Special Tribunal-5, located in the administrative building of the Central Jail in Old Dhaka, sentenced Khaleda to seven years of rigorous imprisonment in the case. He also imposed a fine of Tk 10 lakh, with an additional six-month sentence in case of default. The other three co-accused in the case received the same sentence.
