Bangladeshi ex-PM gets bail in graft cases

DHAKA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- A court in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka has granted bail to ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in two cases filed by the country's anti-graft body.

Judge Md Akhteruzzaman of the Special Judge's Court-5 Tuesday granted bail to Khaleda Zia after she appeared before the court to seek bail amid tight security.

The same court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant against Khaleda Zia, scrapping her ad-interim bails in the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust cases as she failed to appear before it on time.

Khaleda was indicted in both cases, while her elder son Tarique Rahman, senior vice-chairman of the BNP, was involved in the orphanage case.

Bangladeds's Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) filed the orphanage case in July 2008, saying that Khaleda and five others including her elder son Tarique Rahman had embezzled over 20 million taka (253,164 U.S. dollars) from an orphanage trust during her 2001-2006 term as prime minister.

In 2011, the anti-graft body sued the BNP chief and three others for pocketing 31.5 million taka (397,435 U.S. dollars) of the Zia Charitable Trust in the name of her late husband, former President Ziaur Rahman.

Zia had earlier said political vendettas were to blame for the cases against her and her son. Enditem