The Bangladesh Supreme Court on Monday ordered a stay on the bail granted to opposition leader and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in a corruption case where she was handed a five-year sentence.
A four-judge bench accepted the appeal against Khaleda's bail, granted by a High Court a week ago, filed by the government and the Anti-Corruption Commission, reports Efe news.
"The court fixed May 8 for a full hearing on bail matter. The court says we have given a unanimous order, now there will be a full appeal hearing and that appeal will decide if Khaleda Zia will get bail," Anti-Corruption Commission Lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told reporters.
According to the lawyer, the decision of the bench was unanimous and a decision on her bail will be completed in three weeks.
Khaleda's defence team expressed disappointment with the decision of the top court.
"We did not expect it. We believed their petition would be canceled," said Moudud Ahmed, Khaleda's lawyer and senior member of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
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On February 8, a special court found Khaleda, who is also facing several other cases of corruption, violence and sedition, guilty of fraud amounting to $200,000 through a foundation she created to finance an orphanage.
--IANS
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