The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Monday upheld the High Court verdict acquitting former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia and three others in the Zia Charitable Trust case, dismissing appeals filed by the state and the Anti-Corruption Commission.
A three-member bench, led by Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam, rejected the petitions seeking permission to challenge the High Court鈥檚 November 27, 2024 ruling, which overturned Khaleda鈥檚 seven-year prison sentence handed down by a special judge鈥檚 court in 2018.
With the decision, Khaleda now stands acquitted in both the Zia Orphanage Trust and the Zia Charitable Trust cases, in which she was jailed on February 8, 2018, during the Awami League regime.
Lawyer Zoynal Abedin Meshbah told 抖阴精品 that Khaleda Zia is now cleared of all 37 cases filed against her during the army-backed caretaker government and the 15-year rule of the Awami League.
He attributed these legal victories to judicial scrutiny following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime on August 5, 2024, amid a student-led mass uprising.
On October 28, 2018, the Dhaka Special Judge鈥檚 Court-5 sentenced Khaleda and her co-accused鈥攈er late political adviser Abdul Harris Chowdhury, his assistant private secretary Ziaul Islam Munna, and former Dhaka mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka鈥檚 assistant private secretary Monirul Islam Khan鈥攆or alleged embezzlement of Tk 3.15 crore from the Zia Charitable Trust.
The ACC had filed the case on August 8, 2011, accusing Khaleda of misusing her power to collect funds for the trust between 2001 and 2006, and later attempting to misappropriate the amount in collusion with others.
Following the fall of the AL regime, Khaleda鈥檚 sentence was remitted through a presidential order.
On January 7, Khaleda traveled to London for her advanced treatment.
The High Court鈥檚 November 27, 2024 ruling subsequently acquitted Khaleda and her co-accused, deeming the case politically motivated鈥攁n argument strongly pushed by her legal team.
Khaleda, had spent over two years in jail before being temporarily released on March 25, 2020, through an executive order during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The conditions of her release restricted her movement to her Gulshan residence and barred her from traveling abroad.
