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Sheikh Hasina scores in battle against government

Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed scored a victory against the government yesterday with a court ruling that she could not be tried for corruption under emergency laws.

Sheikh Hasina, who led the country from 1996 to 2001, is one of around 150 high-profile figures arrested as part of an anti-graft drive by the emergency government, which took office in January last year. She remains under detention.

She is being tried by a special fast-track court, but the High Court in Dhaka said this was illegal -- 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 judgement has established the rule of law, supremacy of the Constitution and the supremacy of the human rights in the country," her chief lawyer Rafiq-ul-Haque said.

"It's a historic judgement. It will benefit hundreds of thousands of victims put to jail under the emergency laws," he said.

Sheikh Hasina, the leader of the Awami League party, went on trial for corruption late last month.
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