Bangladesh leader in legal victory

Bangladesh leader in legal victory

Hasina is accused of extorting $435,000 from a power-company owner [AFP] A Bangladeshi court has ruled that Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the detained former prime minister, could not be tried for corruption under emergency laws. The high court in Dhaka said on Wednesday that the trial was illegal, effectively throwing into doubt all other completed or pending corruption cases pushed by the authorities. "The high court has also quashed the case against Hasina. The judgment has established the rule of law, supremacy of the constitution and the supremacy of the human rights in the country," Rafiq-ul-Haque, Hasina's chief lawyer, said. "It's a historic judgment. It will benefit hundreds of thousands of victims put to jail under the emergency laws," he said. But Kamrul Islam, her other lawyer, said the victory would be short-lived, with the government set to take the matter to the supreme court, a body that has in the past sided with the authorities. "We will fight in the supreme court, although we have very dim hope for a positive verdict. In the past, the supreme court's appellate division has overturned all the high court verdicts in favour of the government," he said. [for more click on the heading[