A Special Court
in Dhaka on Thursday sentenced former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to jail for five years in a 10-year-old graft case.
The court also sentenced her son, Tarique Rahman, and four others to jail for 10 years. Rahman is a resident of London.
The others sentenced are former Bangladesh Nationalist Party MP Quazi Salimul Haq Kamal; former Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Kamal Uddin Siddique; and two others, including a businessman.
Ms. Zia had denied the charges.
The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case, accusing Ms. Zia and the five others of misappropriating over 2.1 crore Bangladeshi Taka [?1.6 crore] that had come from a foreign bank as grants for orphans.
There are more than 30 cases, including cases related to fund misappropriation, against Ms. Zia and other BNP leaders.
She was Prime Minister for two terms -- 1991-1996 and 2001-2006.
Security has tightened in bordering areas of West Bengal anticipating violence.
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