Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has been sentenced to five years in prison on corruption charges.
Zia received the verdict Thursday in a courtroom in the capital, Dhaka. She was convicted of embezzling up to $250,000 from a trust fund dedicated to an orphanage.
Zia's son, Tarique Rahman, and four other people convicted in the case were sentenced by the judge to 10 years in prison for their involvement in the crime.
The conviction bars Zia, the head of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, from running in the next national elections set for December. Her lawyers have denounced the case as politically motivated.
Thousands of Zia's supporters poured onto the streets of Dhaka ahead of Thursday's hearing and escorted her motorcade to the courtroom, despite the heavy presence of riot police deployed throughout the city.
Bangladesh's political scene has been dominated for years by a bitter rivalry between Zia and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
孟加拉国前总理卡莉达·齐亚被判处5年刑期，罪名是贪污腐败。
星期四，齐亚在首都达卡的一家法庭获得判决。她被判从一个孤儿院的专款中挪用25万美元的罪名成立。
涉案的齐亚的儿子塔里克·拉赫曼和另外四人被法官认定罪名成立，判处10年监禁。
这一判决使孟加拉国反对党民族主义党的领袖齐亚不能参加定于12月举行的全国选举。她的律师说，这一案件是政治动机推动的。
尽管政府当局出动大批的防暴警察遍布达卡，但成千上万的齐亚支持者星期四在庭讯前涌上达卡街头，护送着齐亚的车队驶向法庭。
孟加拉国政坛多年来一直被齐亚和现任总理谢赫·哈西娜之间你死我活的争斗所主导。