DHAKA, 27 November 2007 — Bangladesh’s Supreme Court yesterday suspended the bail granted by the Dhaka High Court to detained former Prime Minister Hasina Wajed.
An appellate division full bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Ruhul Amin, issued the orders after hearing the petitions submitted by the government and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The government and the ACC filed appeals with the appellate division against the high court order that granted bail to Hasina. The former premier, who heads Awami League, one of the country’s major parties, had earned the reprieve from the high court on Nov. 4 against the government’s bid to investigate her wealth. The court had also ordered to stay the case proceedings in a corruption case involving taka 30 million (about $428,500).
The ACC had filed a case on Sept. 2 against Hasina and six others, charging them with accepting donations of taka 30 million (about $428,500), for helping a foreign company and its local partner in setting up three private sector power projects. The government later included the case for trial under emergency powers rules.
Guards Foil Jailbreak Attempt
Bangladeshi prison guards foiled an escape bid by five detained militants, officials said yesterday.
Authorities issued alerts in all prisons after Sunday’s failed jailbreak attempts by militants, accused of launching bomb attacks in 2005. “The militants tried to flee the jail on Sunday night by scaling a prison wall,” an officer at Comilla district town, 100 km southeast of the capital Dhaka, told Reuters. Two of them, including the teenage son of an executed leader of the outlawed group Jamat-ul-Mujahideen, jumped the wall and started to run, but prison guards gave chase and recaptured them.
