Orphanage case: Ex-Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia’s sentence doubled

Dhaka [Bangladesh]: A Bangladesh court on Tuesday extended the sentence of former Prime Minister and chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Khaleda Zia from five to 10 years in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

According to the Dhaka Tribune, the sentence was extended after the court accepted Anti-Corruption Commission’s petition seeking to increase Khaleda’s imprisonment.

Earlier this year, Khaleda along with five others including her son Tarique Rehman was sentenced to five years in prison in the orphanage corruption case. The case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission in 2008 pertains to alleged misappropriation of funds amounting to 2.1 crore taka that were said to have come from a foreign bank in the form of grants for orphans.

This comes a day after Khaleda was sentenced to seven years in prison in connection with Zia Charitable Trust graft case.

Khaleda has served as Bangladesh Prime Minister for two terms, 1991-1996 and 2001-2006.

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]