Khaleda Zia has been acquitted in the Zia Charitable Trust case

The High Court has accepted the appeal filed by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Khaleda Zia 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.

On Wednesday, the High Court bench, consisting of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain, declared the trial court's verdict null and void, leading to Khaleda Zia's acquittal of all charges. 

Khaleda Zia's legal team had initiated the appeal process following the trial court's decision. On November 3, the High Court had granted her request to prepare a paper book (case summary) as a first step for the appeal hearing. The appeal was heard last Wednesday.

Senior lawyers Zainul Abedin and Kayser Kamal represented Khaleda Zia in court, with support from lawyers Md. Aminul Islam, AHM Kamruzzaman Mamun, and Maqsud Ullah. Asif Hasan represented the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), while Deputy Attorney General Md Jasim Sarkar appeared for the state.

ACC lawyer Asif Hasan later informed the media that the High Court had granted separate appeals from Khaleda Zia and two others, Ziaul Islam, the former private secretary of Haris Chowdhury, and Monirul Islam Khan, the former private secretary of former mayor Sadeq Hossain Khoka, acquitting them of the charges.

The trial court had delivered its verdict in the Zia Charitable Trust case on October 29, 2018, sentencing Khaleda Zia to seven years in prison and imposing a fine. Khaleda Zia filed her appeal with the High Court on November 18, 2018. The High Court accepted the appeal for hearing on April 30, 2019, and stayed the fine imposed by the trial court.

Following the August 5 student uprising, the Awami League government fell, and on August 6, Khaleda Zia was released after her sentence was commuted in both the Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust cases. Subsequently, she applied for permission to prepare a paper book as a preliminary step for the appeal hearing in the Zia Charitable Trust case, which was listed for hearing today.