Bangladesh's ex-PM granted bail

Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia was granted bail in five graft, violence and sedition cases on Tuesday.

Amid tight security on Tuesday morning, Zia first appeared before a special anti-graft court that on March 30 issued arrest warrants against her and 27 others in violence case.

The violence case was filed with a police station in Dhaka for allegedly vandalizing and torching a vehicle on Jan. 6 last year during a Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party's anti-government campaign.

Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court granted bail to Khaleda Zia after she surrendered before the court and sought bail in the violence case.

Also on Tuesday morning, Khaleda Zia was granted bail in a graft case.

Judge Abu Ahmed Jamadar of Special Judge's Court-3 granted bail to her in the Global Agro Trade (Pvt) Company Ltd (Gatco) graft case.

Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission on Sept. 2, 2007 lodged the case against Khaleda, her youngest son and 11 others.

In the Gatco scam case, they were alleged to secure financial benefits of 22 million taka (about 314,000 U.S. dollars) by abusing the power and thus inflicting a loss of 10 billion taka (about 140 million U.S. dollars) to the exchequer.

After securing bails in the cases Khaleda later on Tuesday appeared for bails in a sedition case and two more violence cases filed against her.

She also granted bails in the sedition and two more violence cases.

Khaleda Zia often says political vendettas are to blame for the cases against her and her sons uring Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's incumbent government against which she has been leading the opposition procession from her party. Endit