Khaleda’s conditional release to be extended by 6 months: Law minister

The law ministry has gave its opinion in favour of extending BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s jail sentences suspension by another six months on the existing two conditions, said Law Minister Anisul Huq on Sunday.

“The law ministry has given its opinion for extending Khaleda’s jail term suspension period by another six months on the existing conditions. Already the opinion of the ministry has been sent to the Home Ministry,” he said while talking to reporters at the secretariat.

With this, Khaleda’s jail sentences suspension will be extended for the eight time.

The current jail sentence suspension will be expired on September 24.

Replying to a question about the petition BNP submitted seeking permission to allow Khaleda Zia to go abroad, the minister said “There is no scope to give her the permission and if there was any legal scope, we would consider it.”

The government accepted all the previous applications but did not give Khaleda permission to go abroad for treatment.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail through an executive order by suspending her sentence on March 25, 2020, with conditions that she would stay at her Gulshan house and would not leave the country. Since then, her release term has been extended every six months following the family‍‍`s plea.

The government has so far extended the convicted former prime minister’s conditional release seven times, with the last extension on March 12, 2023.

Khaleda was sent to the Old Dhaka Central Jail as a lower court sentenced her to five years‍‍` imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8, 2018. Later, she was found guilty and convicted in another corruption case the same year.

Khaleda, a 78-year-old former prime minister, has long been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, heart, eye problems and post-Covid complications.