DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh’s Supreme Court acquitted former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in a 2008 corruption case on Wednesday, clearing the way for the ailing leader to contest parliamentary elections in the troubled South Asian country. .

The verdict is the latest judicial victory for Khaleda and her family, one of the two main groups that dominate the country’s politics.

A five-judge panel headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed acquitted Khaleda, her son Tarique Rahman and others, overturning prison sentences handed down by the high court in 2018.

At the time Bangladesh was ruled by Khaleda’s rival, Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted as prime minister in August, when protests forced her to resign and flee to neighboring India.

The case, from 2008, accuses Khaleda and others of stealing 21 million taka ($173,000) in foreign donations for an orphanage trust set up when she was the last prime minister, from 2001 to 2006. .

“The case is so bad that the appellants and those who cannot appeal have all been acquitted,” defense lawyer Zainul Abedin said after the verdict.

In November, Khaleda, 79, was acquitted in another corruption case in which she was accused of embezzling 31.5 million taka from another trust in 2005.

Last week, Khaleda, who has been battling health issues such as cirrhosis of the liver and heart problems, was flown to London for treatment.

Last month, a high court acquitted Rahman and others in the 2004 grenade attack on Hasina’s rally. Rahman is the acting chairperson of Khaleda’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and is in exile in London.

Since August, Bangladesh has been ruled by an interim government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus.

The BNP has called for general elections to be held in August in the country’s greater interest, citing growing political and economic instability.

($1=121.5000 taka)