Khaleda Zia acquitted in Zia Orphanage Trust case

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, her son Tarique Rahman, and several others have been acquitted in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. The Supreme Court's Appellate Division has overturned the High Court's 10-year sentence, clearing all the accused in the case.

A five-member appellate bench, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, delivered this verdict on Wednesday.

Earlier, on Tuesday, the Supreme Court completed the hearing on Khaleda Zia's appeal against the High Court's decision to increase her sentence to 10 years in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. The Appellate Division had scheduled the verdict for today.

Khaleda Zia's defense in court was led by senior lawyers Zainul Abedin, Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, and Barrister Badruddoza Badal, among others. Representing the government were Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman, Additional Attorney Generals Mohammad Arshadur Rouf and Barrister Aneek R Haque. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was represented by senior lawyer Md Asif Hasan.

On November 11 of the previous year, the Appellate Division had suspended the High Court's sentence and granted Khaleda Zia permission to appeal. Subsequently, she filed her appeal.

Lawyer Zainul Abedin said, "The court gave both sides a fair opportunity. Our final request was for the appeal to be accepted and for the High Court's decision to increase the sentence from five to ten years to be overturned. We argued that since the main accused is no longer actually an accused, and those who did not appeal (like Tarique Rahman), along with others involved in the case, should all be acquitted."

In the case, on October 30, 2018, the High Court increased Khaleda Zia's sentence to 10 years after rejecting her appeal against the trial court's verdict. In March 2019, she filed two separate leave-to-appeal petitions. On November 11 of the previous year, the Appellate Division granted her permission to appeal and stayed the execution of the sentence. Subsequently, Khaleda Zia filed additional appeals against the sentence.