Zia Charitable Trust Case: Khaleda Zia acquitted
The High Court has allowed Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Khaleda Zia's appeal against the trial court's verdict in the Zia Charitable Trust case.
The trial court had sentenced Khaleda Zia to seven years in prison and imposed a fine of Tk 1 million.
However, the High Court bench, comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain, declared the verdict null and void on Wednesday.
As a result, Khaleda Zia was acquitted of the charges.
Earlier, her lawyers had initiated the process for hearing her appeal against the trial court's verdict in the Zia Charitable Trust case.
On 3 November, the High Court granted Khaleda Zia's plea to prepare a paper book (case summary) as a preliminary step for the appeal hearing. Following this, the appeal was heard last Wednesday.
Senior lawyers Zainul Abedin and Kayser Kamal represented Khaleda Zia in court. Senior lawyers Md. Aminul Islam, AHM Kamruzzaman Mamun, and Maqsud Ullah were also present for her defense.
Lawyer Asif Hasan represented for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), while Deputy Attorney General Md Jasim Sarkar represented the state.
Later, ACC lawyer Asif Hasan told Prothom Alo that the High Court had granted two separate appeals filed by Khaleda Zia and two others, acquitting them of the charges.
The other two individuals involved are Ziaul Islam, the former private secretary of Haris Chowdhury, and Monirul Islam Khan, the former private secretary of former mayor Sadeq Hossain Khoka.
The trial court delivered its verdict in the Zia Charitable Trust case on 29 October 2018, sentencing Khaleda Zia to seven years in prison and imposing a fine of Tk 1 million.
Khaleda Zia appealed against the verdict to the High Court on 18 November 2018. After hearing the appeal, on 30 April 2019, a double bench of the High Court accepted the appeal for hearing and stayed the fine imposed by the trial court in Khaleda Zia's case.
Meanwhile, following the student-peple uprising on 5 August, the Awami League government fell. On 6 August, Khaleda Zia was released after her sentence was commuted in both the Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust cases.
Subsequently, Khaleda Zia applied for permission to produce a paper book as a preliminary step for the appeal hearing in the High Court regarding the Zia Charitable Trust case.
As a result, the appeal was listed on the court's agenda today. Khaleda Zia filed the appeal in the High Court back in 2018.