Khaleda Zia Cannot Contest Elections: Bangladesh Attorney-General

BANGLADESH DIARY

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s leader of the opposition and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia will not be able to contest the upcoming general elections after she was sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison in two separate graft cases, Attorney-General Mahbubey Alam said on Tuesday. “Since she is now a convict, according to the existing law of our country one cannot participate in elections unless the punishment is changed and she is acquitted,” Alam told reporters at his office. The Bangladesh High Court on Tuesday doubled Khaleda’s jail sentence to 10 years from the five-year term that was announced in February in a corruption case involving the embezzlement of $200,000 meant for the Zia Orphanage Trust, bdnews24.com reported. (IANS)