Khaleda’s release to be extended if family submits application: Anisul

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq has said BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s release term will be extended again if her family members submit an application.

He told journalists after inaugurating a training course of Joint District and Sessions Judges and equivalent judicial officers at Judicial Administration Training Institute in the capital on Saturday. 

The law minister said we are waiting for their application. If they submit an application, the release period will definitely be extended.

Earlier on March 23, the government extended the suspension of Khaleda Zia’s jail sentence, allowing her to stay out of prison for another six months.

Khaleda Zia was first released from jail for six months upon an executive order considering her age and on humanitarian grounds following an application by her family on March 25 in 2020.

The former prime minister was sent to Old Dhaka Central Jail after she was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by a special court in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8, 2018.

She was convicted in a second corruption case later.

The 76-year-old BNP chief has been staying at her Gulshan residence since her release. A special team of her personal physicians has been overseeing her treatment.

Khaleda’s family has petitioned the government several times for permission to take her abroad for medical treatment. The government has repeatedly denied the request, claiming it is impossible under the current law that allows her to stay out of jail.