Bangladeshi opposition leader Khaleda Zia excluded from the elections: official

Opposition leader jailed in Bangladesh prevented from running for next month's general election against rival prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her main rival Attorney General of Bangladesh said Wednesday.

Khaleda Zia is serving a 10-year prison sentence, but her supporters, who appealed the charges, were hoping that the 73-year-old man would be acquitted before the poll of 30 December.

But the Supreme Court confirmed Wednesday the decision of a trial court, according to which no one would be sentenced to a prison term of more than two years or waiting for appeal.

Zia's supporters appealed the High Court ruling on Tuesday.

"Following this judgment, she can not take part in the elections," said Wednesday to the AFP Attorney General Mahbubey Alam.

The Bangladesh National Party (BNP), the opposition movement that Zia leads from behind bars, protested against the court's decision, which "reflected the wishes of the government."

"This decision is totally unacceptable to us and we are deeply aggrieved and protested," said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Zia hoped to be able to contend for three seats in parliament despite being incarcerated in Dhaka for corruption, according to the BNP, in an effort to prevent her from challenging Hasina.

Bangladesh is ruled by Zia or Hasina since the 1990s and the two powerful women have turned away from close allies to become fierce opponents.

At just one month of the elections, the BNP has not announced an alternative candidate to run against Hasina, who is seeking a third consecutive term.

She was elected without dispute. in 2014, after the BNP boycotted the poll, claiming that it was neither free nor fair nor rigged against Zia.

The opposition asked Hasina to withdraw before the elections and allow an interim government to monitor the country, but the prime minister refused.

The BNP accused its ruling party, the Awami League, of detaining 5,000 opposition activists before the December vote in order to paralyze the party party base.

The son of Zia, a potential heir to the throne of the BNP, was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment in October. He lives in exile in London.

(With the exception of the title, this story has not been altered by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)