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Published : 14 Jan 2025, 02:06 PM
The Appellate Division has heard BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's appeal plea against the 10-year jail sentence she was handed in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case and will deliver its verdict on Wednesday.
After a hearing on Tuesday, an Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, scheduled the verdict for Wednesday.
Khaleda's legal counsel Barrister Kaiser Kamal said he hoped Khaleda and all the other accused in the case will receive justice.
"As part of a political scheme, some judges in the judiciary during the last government's regime, attempted to create difficulties for [BNP] leader Khaleda Zia," Kaiser said on Tuesday morning after the hearing.
A parliamentary election was held in 2018, and the honourable Appellate Division ordered the High Court Division to ensure that the appeal was settled in four months so that Khaleda could not contest the election. This was an unprecedented example, not only in Bangladesh but also in the entire Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, he said.
"The case was filed maliciously to victimise the Zia family. It was filed over personal grudges and political revenge."
On Nov 11, 2024, the Appellate Division suspended Khaleda Zia's 10-year prison sentence in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case and granted her permission to appeal against the High Court’s verdict.
The top court also ordered Khaleda to submit the appeal summary in two weeks. A three-member bench of the Appellate Division led by Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam issued the order.
The Chamber Court fixed Nov 10 for a hearing of Khaleda's 'leave to appeal ' against her 10-year jail sentence in the Zia' Orphanage Trust corruption case.
On Feb 8, 2018, Special Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman sentenced Khaleda to five years in prison in the case. The court also handed down 10-year prison sentences to Khaleda’s son and BNP Acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman, former Magura MP Kazi Salimul Haque Kamal, businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed, Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, and Mominur Rahman.
On Feb 20, 2018, Khaleda appealed the verdict. In March, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed an application with the High Court pushing for an extension of her prison sentence.
Responding to the ACC’s request, the High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman extended Khaleda’s sentence from five years to 10 years on Oct 30, 2018.
