The special court which dealt with the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case refrained from awarding the highest punishment of life-term imprisonment to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and five others after considering three factors.
Special Judges’ Court-5 of Dhaka, which sentenced Khaleda Zia to five years and the others to ten years rigorous imprisonment this month, said it considered the offenders' age, social status and the amount of misappropriated money in awarding the lighter punishments.
The court in its full judgment, which was published on Monday, said the accused are entitled to punishment under section 409/109, as the charges against them were proven beyond doubt.
Under section 409, punishment for the charge of criminal breach of trust by a public servant, banker, merchant or agent is imprisonment for life, or either rigorous or simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years along with a fine.
“The defendants committed economic offenses in collaboration with each other. That is why they should be awarded exemplary punishment,” the court said.
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However, it added that it would not be proper to award life-term imprisonment to the accused due to three factors.
“Of the accused, Khaleda Zia had discharged duties as the country's prime minister. She was also the opposition chief in parliament, and has been the chief of a political party. She is an elderly woman,” the court said to justify the five year prison sentence.
It added that age and social status were also considered when sentencing BNP Senior Vice-President Tarique Rahman, former lawmaker Kazi Salimul Haque Kamal, businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed, Dr Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, and Khaleda Zia’s nephew Mominur Rahman to ten years imprisonment.
The court also said that section 409 did not specify whether the offenders should be sentenced to simple or rigorous imprisonment, and hence rigorous imprisonment was determined after interpretation of the law.
The court also asked the accused to pay a fine of Tk 21,071,643 to the government treasury within 60 days of the full text of the verdict having been published, as this was the amount which was misappropriated by them.
The court issued the certified copy of the verdict on Monday, while the sentences in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case were delivered on February 8.