Ex-Bangladesh PM Zia acquitted in graft case

Dhaka: Bangladesh High Court on Wednesday acquitted former prime minister and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in a corruption case in which she was sentenced to seven years in jail by a lower court, according to media reports.

Zia, 79, was convicted in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in 2018 by a Dhaka court.

It also sentenced her to seven years imprisonment under the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government and fined her

Tk 1 million.

A bench of Justices AKM Asaduzzaman and Syed Enayet Hossain overturned the decision based on an appeal by Zia, the bdnews24.com news portal reported. Two others accused in the case were also acquitted by the court.