BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment and his wife Zubaida Rahman was handed a three-year jail sentence in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission in 2007.
Judge Md Asaduzzaman of Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court delivered the judgment in their absence.
Tarique was also fined Tk 3 crore, in default of which he will have to serve three more months in jail.
The court fined Zubaida Tk 45 lakh. If she fails to pay the money, she will have to serve one more month in prison.
Earlier in the day, pro-BNP lawyers were staging demonstrations on the court premises against the trial of the case.
Ahead of the judgment, additional police forces were deployed on the court premises, said Deputy Commissioner (Prosecution) Anisur Rahman.
On July 27, the prosecution completed arguments and sought highest punishment for the couple.
Earlier, the court recorded statements of 42 prosecution witnesses, including complainant of the case.
The couple has been shown fugitives in the charge sheet.
On April 13, the same court framed charges against them. Before that, the court dismissed a lawyer's petition seeking permission to defend them.
Tarique and Zubaida have been in London since 2008.
Tarique is accused in 15 other cases, mostly filed during the caretaker government rule in 2007 and 2008, and Zubaida has been indicted only in this one.
Accepting the charges brought against them, this court on November 1 last year issued arrest warrants against the duo.
On June 26 last year, the HC declared Tarique and Zubaida "fugitives" and rejected their writ petitions challenging the filing of the graft case.
The HC also withdrew the stay order on the case.
On September 26, 2007, the ACC filed the case with Kafrul Police Station against the two and Zubaida's mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu, on charges of amassing assets worth Tk 4.82 crore through illegal means and concealing the information of Tk 2.16 crore in their wealth statements.
