Law Minister: Govt to decide on Khaleda taking her health into consideration

Source:-dhakatribune

He noted that Khaleda Zia is not on bail rather she was released through an executive order on humanitarian grounds

The government will decide on extending BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s temporary release taking her health into consideration following an application submitted by her family.

Law Minister Anisul Huq made the remarks addressing the press at the Secretariat in Dhaka, following a virtual cabinet meeting on Monday.

However, the law minister said he is yet to receive the application wherein Khaleda’s family sought another six months for her treatment.

He said: “I have heard that an application on behalf of Khaleda Zia has been submitted to the Home Ministry. That application has been forwarded to the Law Ministry.

“But it [Khaleda’s application] is yet to reach me. A decision will be taken regarding the matter after I get my hands on the application.”

He also noted that Khaleda Zia is not on bail. Rather, she was released for six months by executive order on humanitarian grounds under Section 401 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Khaleda’s conviction

On July 3, 2008, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case against Khaleda Zia and others with Ramna police station, accusing them of misappropriating Tk2.1 crore in donations meant for a trust to be formed in her husband’s name.

On February 8, 2018, a special court convicted Khaleda and sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment in the graft case.

Later, she was sent to serve her jail sentence at a special jail in the Old Dhaka central jail building on Nazimuddin Road.

On January 28, 2019, the High Court released the full text of its verdict, raising Khaleda Zia’s prison term in the graft case to 10 years from five years.

The BNP chief and three others were also sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in the Zia Charitable Trust case on October 29, 2018.

The ACC filed the case on August 8, 2011, with Tejgaon police against four people, including Khaleda Zia, accusing them of abusing power in raising funds for the trust from unknown sources.

She was released from prison on March 25 after 776 days.

The government released her for six months, issuing an executive order, on condition that she stay at her home in Dhaka and not leave the country.

It suspended her sentence as per section 401 of Criminal Procedure Codes on “humanitarian grounds.”

Recently, Shamim Iskandar, Khaleda’s younger brother, applied to the home ministry seeking the extension of her staying out of jail for six months.

According to Khaleda’s physicians, the 75-year-old former prime minister is suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, ophthalmological and dental ailments.