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Bangladesh court sends former minister to jail
A former Bangladeshi foreign minister, who was sentenced in absentia last year to 13 years in prison on charges of illegally amassing wealth, was sent to jail after he surrendered on Sunday, court officials said.
- Agencies
- Published: 14:27 May 10, 2009
Dhaka: A former Bangladeshi foreign minister, who was sentenced in absentia last year to 13 years in prison on charges of illegally amassing wealth, was sent to jail after he surrendered on Sunday, court officials said.
Morshed Khan was foreign minister from 2001 to 2006 in the government of former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, who was also detained for a year until September last year on corruption charges. Khaleda denied all charges.
He had been on the run since he was charged with illegally amassing wealth.
Khan, who was convicted of amassing 16.90 million taka ($244,927), was sentenced in absentia last August. A high court bench earlier refused him bail, asking him to surrender to the court that convicted him.
Khan, a leading cellphone operator and car dealer, was also fined one million taka ($14,595) or to serve another year in jail, after he was charged by an army-backed interim government that ruled the country for two years from January 2007.
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