Dhaka: Bangladeshi tax authorities on Monday decided to unfreeze the bank accounts of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairwoman Khaleda Zia, 17 years after banks were ordered to freeze them.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has ordered banks to unfreeze the accounts of NBP Chairman Zia, the Daily Star newspaper reported.
In August 2007, the NBR’s Central Intelligence Cell ordered banks to freeze the accounts of the BNP chairman, who has been elected Prime Minister of Bangladesh twice since 1990.
The decision was based on a recommendation from a panel formed during the then military-backed interim government, a senior NBR official said.
Since then, his accounts have remained frozen and the BNP has repeatedly requested that they be unfrozen.
The latest move comes after a mass uprising ousted Khaleda’s long-time rival Sheikh Hasina on August 5, ending 15 years of rule by Bangladesh’s Awami League. An interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on August 8.
Zia, 79, was released from jail after Hasina, 76, fled to India on August 5.
Zia served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006.
The NBR said it received a request from Khaleda’s lawyer on Sunday seeking to unfreeze the accounts.
“As there are no pending tax matters related to her, we have recommended the banks to unblock all her accounts. We have asked them to take immediate action and submit a compliance report,” the official said.
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