Former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia was admitted to a private hospital in the early hours of Thursday, according to a media report. The 79-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson arrived at the Evercare Hospital from her Gulshan residence around 1:40 am, BNP media cell member Sayrul Kabir Khan was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune newspaper. Her physician, Professor AZM Zahid Hossain, said the medical board has recommended several tests and she has been placed in a private cabin following her admission to the hospital. The next course of her treatment will be determined after reviewing the test results, he said. On August 21, Zia had returned home after 45 days treatment at the same hospital. The former prime minister, who was under house arrest for the past five years, was freed by an order of Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin on August 6. She was acquitted of all charges against her following the fall of the Awami League government led by he
Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia has been acquitted in five separate cases, including one filed over allegations of celebrating a fake birthday and another for supporting war criminals, a media report said on Tuesday. Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mahbubul Haque's court issued acquittal orders in four cases whereas Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Tofazzal Hossain's court acquitted her in one case on Tuesday, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. The defendant, 79-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Zia, was acquitted after the plaintiff did not appear in court. In August 2016, a case was filed against Zia by a journalist for celebrating a fake birthday. The complaint alleged that although five different birthdates of Zia were found through various sources, none was on August 15. It said that despite this, she has been celebrating her birthday on August 15, which is the national mourning day commemorating the assassination
Tax authorities in Bangladesh on Monday decided to unfreeze the bank accounts of Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairperson Khaleda Zia, 17 years after banks were ordered to block them. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has instructed banks to unfreeze the accounts of BNP Chairperson Zia, the Daily Star newspaper reported. In August 2007, the NBR's Central Intelligence Cell directed banks to freeze the accounts of the BNP Chairperson, who has been elected Bangladesh's prime minister twice since 1990. The decision was based on a recommendation of a panel formed during the then Army-backed caretaker government, said a senior official of the NBR. Since then, her accounts have remained blocked. The BNP has on several occasions demanded that they be unfrozen. The latest move comes after a mass uprising toppled Sheikh Hasina, a long-time rival of Khaleda, on August 5, ending the Bangladesh Awami League's 15-year rule. An interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn
The court also ordered the authorities to swiftly take measures to ensure that Zia gets 'advanced treatment' in line with the recommendations of her medical board
The 73-year-old ex-premier is now serving jail terms in two graft cases involving charities named after her slain husband Ziaur Rahman
On Monday, she was sentenced for embezzling millions from the Zia Charitable Trust
Zia and three of her aides were accused of syphoning off 31.5 million taka from the Zia Charitable Trust alone
Zia was first elected prime minister in 1991, and last served as her country's head of government from 2001 to 2006
Zia, wearing a white sari, appeared in person in the heavily-guarded courtroom amid heightened political tension
In the same case, her son Tarique Rahman and four others have been sentenced to 10 years in jail
Political demonstrations by Zia's centre-right BNP and its Islamist allies in 2014 and 2015 left nearly 200 people dead
Court also issued 4 separate rulings asking govt to explain why proceedings shouldn't be scrapped
The court came up with the bail order after Zia surrendered before it seeking bail in the case
The court ordered seven years in prison and a Taka 200 million fine for Rahman
A case registered against her for instigating a deadly petrol bomb attack on a bus during an anti-govt protest last year.
The warrant was issued over an arson attack on a passenger bus during an anti-government protest campaign last year