Court orders Bangladesh's Hasina to remain in jail

DHAKA, Aug 27 (Reuters) Bangladesh's Supreme Court ruled today that former prime minister Sheikh Hasina must remain in prison, scoring a point for the army-backed interim government after its struggle to quell countrywide student unrest last week.

The ruling overturned a High Court order for the release on bail of Hasina, who has been charged with extorting the equivalent of more than 1 million dollars.

She was detained six weeks ago and is being held inside a parliament compound building that was turned into a special jail.

''Hasina is shocked to learn of the court's decision and fears she will not get justice under the present regime,'' her lawyer, Khondakar Muniruzzaman, told reporters.

The High Court ruling was challenged in the Supreme Court by the interim administration that took over in January, imposed a state of emergency and launched a crackdown on corruption ahead of elections planned for late next year.

Separately today, a court sentenced former minister Nazmul Huda to seven years in jail for taking a bribe of 24 million taka from a construction firm, court officials said.

Huda served as communications minister in the government of the most recent prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia. The court also ordered Huda's wife, Sigma Huda, to serve three years in jail for abetting her husband in accepting the bribe, lawyers said.

VOTERS LIST OVERHAUL More than 170 senior politicians, including over a dozen former ministers and a son of Khaleda Zia, have been detained for alleged corruption since January.

Several of them, who served under both Khaleda and Hasina, her arch-rival, have already been convicted and sentenced to various prison terms.

The interim government says the army is supporting it in carrying out reforms and combating corruption to create conditions for a free and fair election.

Lawyer Muniruzzaman said Hasina believed the Supreme Court's ruling was a calculated decision to disqualify her from election.

The United Nations Development Programme said in a statement today that donors had agreed to give 50 million dollars to overhaul the country's flawed voters' list.

The US-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs said the list which was prepared in 2006 included more than 12 million fake or duplicate names.

The government came under pressure last week as student-led protests against the presence of troops on Dhaka University campus turned violent and spread across the country.

One man was killed and nearly 300 were injured in clashes with security forces before a curfew was declared in the capital and five other cities. The curfew was subsequently relaxed but remains in effect from midnight to 5 am.

REUTERS SY HS2058