Dhaka - A Dhaka court Wednesday sent two former Bangladeshi ministers, convicted in absentia in graft charges, to long prison terms as they surrendered before the trial court, officials said. Special court Judge Arifur Rahman ordered former communications minister Anwar Hossain Manju and former state minister for law Shahjahan Omar to jail on their surrender.
A special court dealing with graft cases had tried the two in absentia, sentencing Omar to 13 years imprisonment for amassing wealth illegally and Manju to 32 years on a number of corruption charges.
They had gone into hiding abroad during the tenure of military- backed government of Fakhruddin Ahmed, who in turn handed power to Sheikh Hasina Wazed after her political coalition won the landmark December 2008 general elections.
