Bangladesh ex-PM's secretary jailed for 3 years

Dhaka, May 21: A special corruption court in Bangladesh passed a three-year jail sentence today on a top aide to former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, court officials said.

They said Haris Chowdhury, Khaleda's former political secretary who has been in hiding since the country's army-backed interim government imposed a state of emergency in January, had been tried and sentenced in his absence.

Security forces have detained more than 160 key political figures, including Khaleda's elder son, in a crackdown on corruption.

Chowdhury has ignored orders by the Anti-Corruption Commission to appear before it and submit a statement of his wealth, most of which it believes he came by illegally.

Today's was the first judgment by the special court set up to deal with corruption cases.

Reuters

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