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BD court reverses Khaleda bail order
Bangladesh’s Supreme Court reversed on Thursday a lower court decision to free former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia on bail, upholding an appeal by the army-backed interim government.

The government will proceed with Khaleda’s prosecution on corruption charges, a lawyer at the prosecutor’s office said, following the top court’s order. Her party said it was disappointed with the court ruling, but hoped justice would be done. Security forces arrested Khaleda and her son Arafat Rahman early last month to face graft charges in the award of a cargo-handling contract to a firm in 2003 that her son allegedly favoured, overruling a state committee’s recommendation.

But a High Court on Sunday ordered Khaleda to be freed on bail and halted her further prosecution on grounds she couldn’t be tried under special emergency laws for an offence committed before the imposition of emergency in January this year. The army-backed interim government, which has vowed to complete a campaign against corrupt politicians and officials before elections next year, filed an appeal on Tuesday against the order.

Posted by: Fred 2007-10-05
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=201326