Bangladesh SC acquits former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in a corruption case

Case of corruption in ‘Zia Charitable Trust’

Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia

Dhaka – Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Khaleda Zia, has recently been acquitted by the country’s Supreme Court in a corruption case. In 2018, the High Court had convicted Khaleda Zia in the ‘Zia Charitable Trust’ corruption case and sentenced her to 10 years of imprisonment. Khaleda Zia served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996 and again from June 2001 to October 2006.

1. According to Bangladeshi media reports, the verdict was delivered by a bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed.

2. The Supreme Court acquitted Khaleda Zia, BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, and all other suspects in the ‘Zia Charitable Trust’ corruption case, declaring the trial to be politically motivated.

Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia acquitted!

Supreme Court’s verdict in the case of corruption in ‘Zia Charitable Trust’.

PC: @NewsX pic.twitter.com/fShW2Bnu5Y

— Sanatan Prabhat (@SanatanPrabhat) January 16, 2025

3. In 2011, the Anti-Corruption Commission had filed a case against Khaleda Zia, then secretary of the ‘Zia Charitable Trust,’ and two other accused at Tejgaon Police Station, alleging abuse of power for collecting funds from unknown sources.

4. On February 8^th, 2018, a special Court in Dhaka sentenced Khaleda Zia to 5 years of imprisonment, while her son Tarique, former chief secretary Kamaluddin Siddiqui, and five other accused were sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. Tarique, Siddiqui, and Khaleda Zia’s nephew Mominur Rahman remain absconding.

5. Khaleda Zia appealed against this decision in the High Court. On October 30th, 2018, the High Court increased her sentence to 10 years. She then filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the verdict.

6. The Supreme Court accepted Khaleda Zia’s petition on November 11^th, 2024, and stayed her sentence until the final hearing of the case.

7. Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has traveled to London for medical treatment.