Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
for five years on a corruption conviction and is awaiting an appeal.
Despite the decision, it was not immediately clear if or when Zia would be freed from jail.
Mahbubey Alam, the country’s attorney general, said after Monday’s ruling that a move against the bail order would be made in the High Court on Tuesday.
Lawyers said a two-member panel of judges considered the 72-year-old Zia’s age and health condition in granting the bail. Zia has had various health complications in the past.
A court convicted Zia on Feb 8 on charges of misusing her power and embezzling about $250,000. The conviction means that Zia, the arch rival of Prime Minister
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums..
, can be barred from running in December elections.
The court also sentenced Zia’s son, Tarique Rahman
...the elder son of former President of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman Bir Uttam, and Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh. He is the Senior Vice Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). His nickname is
Pino. There are allegations that Pino took a rakeoff from every foreign investment into the country while Mom was in office...
, and four others to 10 years in prison for involvement in the case. Rahman lives in London and was tried in absentia.
Bangladesh law says anyone imprisoned for more than two years cannot run for office for the next five years, but Law Minister Anisul Huq has said the final decision rests with the higher courts. Zia faces more than 30 other charges, ranging from corruption to sedition.