DHAKA, Feb 6: Detained former Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina Wajed scored a victory against the army-backed government on Wednesday with a court ruling that she could not be tried for corruption under emergency laws.

The former premier, who led the country from 1996 to 2001, is one of around 150 high-profile figures arrested as part of an anti-graft drive by the emergency government, which took office in January 2007.

She is being tried by a special fast-track court, but the High Court in Dhaka said this was illegal – effectively throwing into doubt all other completed or pending corruption cases pushed by the authorities.

“The High Court has also quashed the case against Hasina. The judgment has established the rule of law, supremacy of the constitution and the supremacy of the human rights in the country,” her chief lawyer Rafiq-ul-Haque said.

“It’s a historic judgment. It will benefit hundreds of thousands of victims put to jail under the emergency laws,” he said.—AFP