A Bangladesh court on Thursday rejected the bail petition of Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia in connection with the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.
A six-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud rejected her appeal against a High Court order that turned down her bail plea in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case, bdnews24 reported.
The court in its order said that the lower court convicted Khaleda and sentenced her to seven years’ imprisonment after the High Court and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court completed all phases of trial proceedings challenged by Zia, the ACC lawyer added.
The court also ordered a status quo on the sub-ordinate court’s property crock order to confiscate 4,200,000 Katha of land bought in the name of Zia Charitable Trust and asked it to send it all case documents related with the case.
In reaction to Thursday’s verdict, Zia’s lawyer Khondoker Mahbub said: “We’ve fought a legal battle for her bail. It is unprecedented for a court to refuse bail in a case involving a seven-year sentence. This is a scandalous incident.”
In April this year, the High Court had accepted Khaleda’s appeal, challenging a trial court verdict.
Last year, in October, Khaleda was convicted and jailed by a special court in Dhaka in connection with the graft case.