A court in Bangladesh sentenced former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s son and heir apparent on Wednesday to nine years in prison after finding the opposition leader guilty in a corruption case filed by the government in 2007.
Judge Mohammed Asaduzzaman of Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge’s Court delivered the sentence in absentia to Tarique Rahman. He also gave a three-year sentence in absentia to Rahman’s wife, Zubaida Rahman, who also lives abroad.
Rahman is the acting chairman of the country’s main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which has been holding anti-government protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
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The judge also fined Rahman more than $273,000. If unpaid, he will be subject to an additional three months in jail.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the secretary general of Zia’s party, rejected the verdict, saying it was politically motivated to keep Rahman from politics.
Former Bangladeshi prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Khaleda Zia waves as she arrives for a court appearance in Dhaka on Nov. 9, 2014. Zia’s son has been sentenced to nine years in prison after being found guilty in a corruption case. ( MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The government’s Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case against Rahman in 2007, accusing him of amassing assets through illegal means and of concealing them in his wealth statements.
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The verdict came ahead of a general election expected by early next year, with Hasina hoping to return to power for a fourth consecutive term.
Rahman already faces a number of prison sentences, including a life term in a grenade attack case. He has been living in exile in London since 2008, when he left the country for medical treatment and never returned. He will be arrested if he returns to Bangladesh.
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Rahman has been leading the party from London while his mother also is serving a prison sentence on corruption charges and has multiple physical ailments.
Zia and Hasina are archrivals and have ruled the country at different times since 1991, when the nation returned to democracy.