The Appellate Division has upheld the High Court order that stayed trial proceedings in four more cases against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
A three-member Appellate Division bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Imman Ali, came up with the orders on Sunday after virtually hearing four separate petitions filed by the state seeking stay on the High Court orders.
Additional Attorney General Momtaj Uddin Fakir appeared for the state while Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon represented the BNP chief.
Of the lawsuits, three arson cases were filed at Darussalam police station in 2015 and a sedition case was filed at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka in 2016 for derogatory remarks on freedom fighters.
On December 21, 2015, Khaleda Zia at a discussion at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh questioned the actual number of martyrs. "There are controversies over how many were martyred in the Liberation War. There're many books and documents on the controversies," she said.
Also Read- Government suspends Khaleda Zia's sentence for 6 more months
Earlier on August 17, Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain headed Appellate Division bench upheld the High Court order that stayed trial proceedings in another four sabotage cases against Khaleda Zia.
On September 15, the government suspended Khaleda Zia's sentences in two cases for six more months. The sentences have been suspended from September 25 on two conditions, said a circular issued by the Home Ministry.
On February 8, 2018, a special court convicted Khaleda and sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the case. She was sent to serve her sentence at a special jail in the old Dhaka Central Jail building on Nazimuddin Road.
Later, the High Court extended Khaleda Zia's prison term in the graft case to 10 years.
Meanwhile, the BNP chief and three others were sentenced to seven years in jail in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case on October 29, 2018.
