Khaleda seeks HC bail in graft case

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia today sought bail from the High Court (HC) in Zia Charitable Trust Corruption case in which she has been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment by a lower court.

Khaleda submitted a bail petition to the HC through her lawyer Barrister Kayser Kamal saying that she is seriously ill as she has been suffering from different complicated diseases.

In the petition, Khaleda urged the HC to consider granting her bail on different grounds citing that she is a 74-year-old woman and was the prime minister for three times and also the jail sentence handed down by the trial court is short, Barrister Kayser Kamal said.

He told The Daily Star that the HC may hold hearing on the bail petition on next Sunday.

On July 31, the HC rejected the bail petition of Khaleda Zia in the same case.

The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station on August 8, 2011.

On October 29 last year, a special court in Dhaka convicted Khaleda in the case and sentenced her to seven years’ imprisonment in her absence.

The HC on October 30 enhanced her punishment to 10 years in the case after dismissing her appeal.

The BNP chief is now in jail after being sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on February 8.