B’desh’s SC upholds acquittal of Khaleda Zia in corruption case

Dhaka, March 3: Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld a High Court ruling that acquitted former premier and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in a corruption case in which she was sentenced to seven years in jail by a lower court.
A three-member Appellate Division bench headed by Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam passed the order, dismissing the plea filed by the state and the Anti-Corruption Commission challenging the High Court verdict that acquitted Zia and others, the state-run BSS news agency reported.
Zia, 79, was convicted in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in 2018 by a Dhaka court. The court sentenced her to seven years imprisonment and fined her Taka 1 million.
On November 27 last year, the High Court allowed two separate appeals filed by Zia and two other convicts, Ziaul Islam and Monirul Islam Khan, challenging the lower court conviction and sentence in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case and acquitted them of the charges.
The state and the ACC filed the plea, challenging the High Court ruling.
That matter came to the Appellate Division’s regular bench for hearing and the apex court passed its order on Monday, the news agency reported.
The graft case filed in 2011 by the Anti-Corruption Commission with Tejgaon Police Station accused Zia and three others of abusing power to raise funds for the trust from unknown sources.
Preserving records of ‘atrocities’ by Hasina regime critical: Yunus
Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus has called for the “meticulous preservation” of records documenting alleged atrocities committed under the administration of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
During a Sunday meeting with United Nations officials, Yunus emphasised that without a proper archival system “it is difficult to know the truth and ensure justice”, Dhaka Tribune reported.
A statement issued by the chief advisor’s press wing said the chief adviser during his conversation with UN Resident Coordinator Gwen Lewis and UN human rights expert Huma Khan cited the crackdown on demonstrators at Shapla Chattar, police brutality against protesters following the Delwar Hossain Sayedee verdict, and years of alleged extrajudicial killings.
The UN officials, in response, reaffirmed their willingness to assist Bangladesh in documenting human rights abuses. (PTI)