The Zia Charitable Trust corruption case refers to a corruption case in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

that relates to corruption over the misuse of funds in a charity named after former President

Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman (19 January 193630 May 1981) was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until Assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of t ...

Khaleda Zia Begum Khaleda Zia (born August–September 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second fema ...

, former

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

and BNP chairperson, was one of the accused individuals in the case. On 27 November 2024, Zia and all the accused were acquitted by the court.

Background

The trust was named after the husband of Khaleda Zia, former president and army commander,

. President Zia was assassinated in 1981. The former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has a "bitter" rivalry with former Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

Case

Bangladesh Anti Corruption Commission The Anti Corruption Commission (; ''often abbreviated:'' ACC, ) is the principal government agency against corruption in Bangladesh. History The Anti-Corruption Commission was formed through an act promulgated on 23 February 2004 that came ...

filed the case in Tejgaon Police Station on 8 August 2011. The case accused four people including former Prime Minister and BNP leader,

. The other accused are Harris Chowdhury, former political secretary to Khaleda Zia, Ziaul Islam Munna, incumbent acting director of naval security and traffic in

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority () also known as BIWTA is the authority which controls the inland water transport in Bangladesh. It's also responsible for managing development and maintenance of inland water transport system. His ...

, and the personal assistant to former mayor of Dhaka, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Monirul Islam Khan. The Anti Corruption commission filed another related case on 3 July 2008 over corruption in the Zia Orphanage. There was six accused individuals in this case including Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her son

Tarique Rahman Tarique Rahman (born 20 November 1965), better known natively as Tarique Zia, is a Bangladeshi politician and businessman who has been the acting chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) since February 2018. He is the eldest son of fo ...

. The case accused them of embezzling 21 million taka from the trust. On 24 February 2015, an arrest warrant was issued by the court against Khaleda Zia in the case. The arrest warrant was issued after she skipped a number of court dates. She surrendered to the court and received bail on 5 April 2015. The prosecution did not oppose her bail petition. The anti-corruption-commission took the charges to court on 16 January 2012. Khaleda Zia has filled a petition with the High Court to halt the proceedings of the Zia Trust and orphanage case. Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman are on bail in the case. Tarique has been staying in London since 2008. After 10 years of ongoing trial on 8 February 2018, Khaleda Zia and

per the court verdict, were jailed for 5 and 10 years respectively due to involvement in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case. While Tarique was in exile, Khaleda was planned to be imprisoned in old Dhaka Central Jail, Nazimuddin Road. In protest, BNP held nationwide demonstrations, which were repelled by law-enforcement across Bangladesh. A large number of BNP activists were arrested during clashes with the police. The verdict also jailed Quazi Salimul Haq Kamal, Kamal Uddin Siddique, Mominur Rahman, and Sharfuddin Ahmed. On 29 October 2018, BNP chairperson

and three others including Harris Chowdhury, former political secretary to ''the then'' PM Khaleda as per supreme court verdict were sentenced to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment in Zia Charitable Trust corruption case. Khaleda and the other convicts were also fined Tk 10 lakh each, in default of which they will have to serve six more months in jail, according to the verdict, The court also ordered to attach in favour of the state 42 kathas of land which was purchased under the name of the trust.

Khaleda Zia's release and verdict

On 6 August 2024, Khaleda Zia was released, a day after her rival

was ousted and fled to India. On 11 November 2024, Appellate Division of the Supreme Court stayed the High Court verdict that doubled Khaleda Zia's jail term to 10 years in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. The Appellate Division also allowed Khaleda to file two appeals with it challenging the HC verdict. On 27 November 2024, Zia and all the accused were acquitted by the

Supreme Court of Bangladesh Supreme Court of Bangladesh () is the highest court of law in the country. It is composed of the High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, High Court Division and the Appellate Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Appellate Division, ...

References

{{Reflist Trials in Bangladesh Corruption in Bangladesh Legal history of Bangladesh