Bangladesh’s top court clears way for former PM Khaleda Zia to run in new elections
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Supreme Court also acquits former prime minister’s son and heir apparent in corruption case. Bangladesh’s top court has acquitted Khaleda Zia in the last remaining corruption case against her, paving the way for the former prime minister to contest elections.
The South Asian country was plunged into a political and economic crisis in August 2024 after months of protests led by students toppled Sheikh Hasina’s government, forcing the prime minister to flee to India and ending her 15-year rule. The nation of some 170 million people is currently run by an interim administration headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who has indicated that the next general election could be held at the end of this year or the first half of 2026.
An Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a 10-year jail sentence handed down to Ms Zia in 2018 on charges of embezzling nearly $250,000 (£204,583) from an orphanage trust established when she became prime minister in 1991. The case had been filed by the anti-corruption commission in July 2008.
The court also cleared Ms Zia's son and fellow accused, Tarique Rahman, who had been sentenced to 10 years in prison as well. Mr Rahman, his mother’s heir apparent as leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party under the nation’s dynastic political system, has been living in the UK since Ms Hasina's Awami League was elected to power in 2009.
