Bangladeshi ex-PM Zia denied bail

DHAKA -- Bangladesh's apex court has rejected the bail petition of ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in a graft case.

The six-member bench of the Appellate Division of Bangladesh Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order Thursday asking Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical in Dhaka to provide proper treatment to the top opposition leader.

In April last year, the wheelchair-bound Zia was shifted to the hospital when she fell ill and has remained there ever since.

Zia, chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has been in jail since February last year after a court sentenced her over the alleged embezzlement of foreign funds.

In July this year, Khaleda filed a petition in the High Court seeking bail on medical grounds in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in which she was jailed for seven years.

Her party leaders want her to be released for treatment abroad as, they say, her health kept deteriorating.

"Unprecedented chaos" by pro-opposition lawyers forced the chief justice to quit the court room during a hearing on Zia's bail plea on Dec 5. The chief justice had then deferred the proceedings till Dec 12.

Also on Thursday, pro-BNP lawyers brought out a procession on the apex court premises and chanted slogans of "We want justice" and "Bail for Khaleda".