Dhaka: A court here on Monday sentenced BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and three others to seven years’ imprisonment each in the much-talked-about Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.

The court also fined them Tk 10 lakh each, in default, to suffer six months more in jail.

Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman of the Special Court-5 handed down the verdict in absence of Khaleda, now undergoing treatment at Bangbandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) under a special medical board formed by the government.

The court started reading out the verdict at 11:25am.

The three other accused in the case are Harris Chowdhury, political secretary of the then prime minister Khaleda between 2001 and 2006; Ziaul Islam Munna, assistant private secretary to Harris; and Monirul Islam Khan, APS to former Dhaka city mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka.

Earlier on October 16, Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman fixed the date for delivering the verdict.

Khaleda has been serving five years’ rigorous imprisonment at Old Central Jail, as she was convicted in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on February 8 last.

On August 8, 2011, the ACC filed the Zia Charitable Trust graft case with Tejgaon Police Station accusing four people, including Khaleda Zia, of abusing power in raising funds for the trust from unknown sources.