DHAKA, FEB 08 (DNA) – A Bangladesh judge convicted opposition leader Khaleda Zia of corruption and sentenced her to five years in jail on Thursday as police clashed with thousands of her supporters outside the court.

The court found the two-time former premier guilty of embezzling money meant for an orphanage, a charge she had consistently dismissed as politically motivated.

Zia, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is expected to appeal against the verdict, but it may affect her ability to stand in a general election slated for December.

“This is a false and staged case. No way we will accept this verdict,” BNP secretary general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told a wire service after the hearing.

Zia’s lawyer Khandkar Mahbub Hossain said the ruling was “political vengeance” and would be overturned by a higher court.

Ahead of the hearing police fired tear gas at thousands of opposition activists who defied heavy security to escort the car taking Zia to the magistrates court.

The private television station Somoy said at least five police officers had been injured and two motorcycles torched during the clashes that broke out several kilometres (miles) from the court premises.

Authorities have for days been on high alert for protests in the tense city, where political demonstrations by Zia’s centre-right BNP and its Islamist allies in 2014 and 2015 left nearly 200 people dead.

Around 3,500 opposition activists and officials were arrested in a sweep by security forces ahead of the verdict according to BNP spokesman Rizvi Ahmed.