BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been acquitted of 10 years imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. The Appellate Division acquitted her on Wednesday (January 15). At the same time, the judgment of the trial court and the High Court has been cancelled. In the same case, BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and other accused have also been acquitted.
The Appellate Division of five judges headed by the Chief Justice Syed Refat Ahmed unanimously announced this verdict. Supreme Court granted Khaleda Zia's appeal against the High Court's sentence.
In the verdict, the court said that the case was filed due to revenge. Khaleda Zia has been defamed through this.
The charitable organization launched in the name of Ziaur Rahman, the founder of BNP; had a Zia Orphanage Trust. From 1991 to 1996, an account named 'Prime Minister's Orphan Fund' was opened in the Ramna branch of Sonali Bank. On June 9, 1991, the account received a foreign donation sent by the Emir of Kuwait. The money from this donation was not donated to any orphanage for the next two years. Two years later, Ziaur Rahman's two sons Tarique Rahman, Arafat Rahman and their cousin Mominur formed the Zia Orphanage Trust. After the formation of the trust, the grant was divided into two and allotted to Bogura and Bagerhat branches of the trust.
The Zia family was accused of embezzling about Tk. 2 crore 10 lakh of the money sent by the Emir of Kuwait for the trust during the discussed 1/11 government. Case filed. The charge sheet of the case was filed in 2009. From that year to 2014, the proceedings of the case were suspended by the order of the High Court, but later it gained momentum again.
The case was decided on February 8, 2018. In a 632-page verdict at Aliya Madrasa in Old Dhaka, Dhaka Special Judge Court Judge Dr. Aktaruzzaman sentenced BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to 5 years rigorous imprisonment. Later, the sentence was 10 years in the High Court. Then BNP leader Khaleda Zia had to go to jail in this Zia Orphanage Trust case.