In 1998 Abdul Majed was sentenced in absentia to death along with a dozen other army officers over the murders of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and members of his family. Majed who is believed to have fled to India in 1996, returned to Bangladesh last month.
Jail sentence of ailing former prime minister and opposition leader will be suspended and she will be released for a period of six months, Law Minister Anisul Huq says.
Election official says Bangladesh's ruling alliance led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won Sunday's violence-marred election with 288 seats, enabling it to form a government. The opposition has rejected the result and called for a new vote.
Bangladesh has also ordered the shutdown of high-speed mobile internet services ahead of this weekend's national election, local media reports, while the US and UN have expressed concerns over the looming polls.
Secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and oppsotion spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, urges the country's figurehead president to appoint a neutral person to the post of chief election commissioner.
Weeks before crucial elections, senior military officers voice uncharacteristic support for the governing Awami League despite a history of tense relations.
Elections in Bangladesh are often violent and marred by ballot-stuffing and voter intimidation. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her rival Khaleda Zia have alternated in power over the last 28 years.
Khaleda Zia, a rival to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is already behind bars after being handed a five-year term in February on separate embezzlement charges. The terms will run concurrently, meaning she will spend an extra two years in jail.
The decision to suspend Khaleda Zia's bail prompted a sharp reaction from her lawyers, who said it was part of a campaign by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to silence the opposition.
Thousands of protestors clashed with police over a ruling that that found former the prime minister guilty of corruption. Her son Tarique Rahman, a co-defendant in the case, and four of her aides were sentenced to 10 years in jail.
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