Bangladesh High Court rejects bail for ex-PM

DHAKA (Reuters) - Hopes of former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina returning home to take the reins of her party ahead of a December election suffered a blow on Monday when the High Court rejected a bail petition.

Hasina was expected to return to Bangladesh over the next few weeks but her party, the Awami League, demanded she should have full freedom.

The country's army-backed interim government has vowed to make the Dec. 18 election fair and credible, with participation of all major parties, including those of Hasina and another ex-premier, Begum Khaleda Zia.

But Hasina's Awami League has threatened to boycott the poll unless Hasina was freed and all charges against her were withdrawn.

Her lawyers said the court refused to grant bail to the former premier, now in the United States on medical parole, over a charge of extorting 50 million taka ($729,700) from a businessman while she was in power between 1996-2001.

It is one of several corruption charges pending against her.

The Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of Khaleda Zia, are the main contenders in the December parliamentary election.

Khaleda was granted bail earlier this month. She and Hasina have spent a year behind bars, facing multiple charges of corruption and abuse of power, which they deny.

Independent analysts say the election would be flawed, or thwarted amid feared political violence, if any of the two main parties boycotted it.

The BNP has yet to confirm its participation in the polls.

Both parties want the emergency rules imposed by the interim authority, which took over in January 2007 following widespread political violence, to be lifted immediately, and all people detained in an anti-corruption drive be released to create a congenial atmosphere for the vote.