BANGLADESH

Bangladesh SC stays HC order on Zia's bail

Bangladesh Election Losing the plot: Without Khaleda Zia leading from the front, the BNP will find it difficult to face the upcoming elections | AP

Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Monday stayed a high court order that granted bail to former prime minister Khaleda Zia in a corruption case, according to a media report.

Zia, 72, was sentenced to five years in jail on February 8 in connection with the embezzlement of 21 million taka (about $250,000) in foreign donations meant for the Zia Orphanage Trust, named after her late husband Ziaur Rahman, a military ruler-turned-politician.

On March 12, the High Court here granted the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) a four-month interim bail.

However, on Monday a full bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order to stay until May 8 the high court order which granted bail to Zia in the graft case.

Following the Supreme Court order, Zia cannot get released from jail till May 8, Anti-Corruption Commission's lawyer Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan was quoted as saying by the report.

Earlier on March 15, the ACC and the state filed two leave-to-appeal petitions before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, challenging the BNP chief's bail.  

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