The verdict is the latest legal victory for the former prime minister who was released from house arrest following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in August.
Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has acquitted former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in a 2008 corruption case, overturning a previous 10-year prison sentence.
In 2018, the country’s High Court convicted Zia and others of misappropriating funds intended for orphans when she was prime minister from 2001 to 2006.
But following an appeal, a five-judge panel headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed on Wednesday acquitted Zia and all other accused in the case, including his son and acting president of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP), Tarique Rahman.
“The case was so despicable that those who appealed and those who could not appeal were all acquitted,” defense lawyer Zainul Abedin told reporters after the verdict.
The verdict is the latest legal victory for Zia, 79, and his family from the BNP, one of the two main groups that have dominated the country’s politics.
Last November, Zia was also acquitted in another corruption case in which she was accused of embezzlement of 31.5 million taka ($260,000) from another trust in 2005.
Earlier this month, she was flown to London to treat her health problems, including liver cirrhosis and heart problems.
Since August, Bangladesh has been ruled by an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India following massive protests against her rule.
Hasina’s overthrow led to Zia’s release from house arrest later in August. The former prime minister had suspended Zia’s prison sentence on health grounds in 2020, on the condition that her longtime rival refrained from traveling abroad and participating in politics.
The BNP has always maintained that the charges were politically motivated, accusing Hasina’s government of targeting Zia for political reasons.
On Wednesday, Zia’s legal team expressed optimism that the Supreme Court’s decision could allow him to run in the next parliamentary elections, which are expected to take place at the end of this year or early 2026.
Last month, a high court also acquitted Rahman and others of a 2004 grenade attack on a rally in Hasina.
