Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia was granted bail on Wednesday after she appeared in court on a string of new charges over a deadly transport blockade, a prosecutor said.
Hundreds of her supporters gathered outside the metropolitan Sessions Court in Dhaka chanting anti-government slogans, as the 70-year-old arrived to seek bail in the nine cases. “We opposed the bail saying that police have found her involvement in the nine cases. But the judge granted her bail in all the cases,” said Dhaka’s chief prosecutor Abdullah Abu.
The new charges take to 30 the number of cases against Ms. Zia, mostly related to alleged violence and graft, her lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukder said. Her party says the cases have been fabricated and are aimed at keeping Ms. Zia under political pressure.