Family to seek extension of suspension of Khaleda’s sentence

Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia’s family has decided to appeal to the government for the extension of the suspension of her conviction.

Khaleda Zia, also a former prime minister, was released from jail on conditions for six months on executive order on March 25.

BNP leaders, her doctors and a source close to the family said that the 75-year-old leader was seriously ill and she should be taken abroad for better treatment, which had not been possible in the country.

Khaleda was in jail since February 8, 2018, the day she was convicted to serve five years in jail in the case of Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, was released from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University’s prison cell after more than two years reportedly on two conditions — she would take medical treatment from home and she would not leave the country.

She was also sentenced on October 29, 2018 for seven years in jail in Zia Charitable Trust graft case.

On October 30, 2018, , the High Court doubled her five-year jail term, handed down by the trial court in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

BNP always had been terming all the cases against Khaleda as false and fabricated.

The ongoing tenure of the suspension of her convictions, the government allowed responding to an appeal of Kaleda Zia’s brother Shamim Eskandar, will end on September 24.

Party leaders and a source close to the family said that the BNP chairperson’s family will appeal to the government before ending the suspension tenure.

They hoped that the government would accept their appeal as Khaleda had not breached any condition.

‘The health condition of our party chairperson has been worsening and she is confined at home in the ongoing situation since her release,’ BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told New Age.

He said that a prayer, on behalf of her family members, would be submitted for extending the suspension period of her conviction.

‘We hope that the government would increase the conviction suspension period considering the health condition of our party chairperson,’ Fakhrul added.

Doctors said that Khaleda had been suffering from severe and uncontrolled rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cough-variant asthma, an autoimmune disorder that damages moisture-producing glands making it difficult to produce saliva and tears, with bilateral total knee replacement.

‘She is seriously ill. She needs to go abroad for advanced treatment at an advanced medical centre. It is not possible in the country,’ said AZM Zahid Hossain, a member of the medical team for Khaleda’s treatment and also a vice-chairman of BNP.

BNP vicechairman and also a lawyer of Khaleda, Nitai Roy Chowdhury said that the government could increase the time of her suspension of the convictions for her better treatment abroad.

‘The government, as per the law, can allow this considering special circumstances,’ Nitai added.

The BNP chairperson’s another lawyer had earlier said that Khaleda had been facing 37 politically motivated cases, 33 of which were filed by the Awami League government. 

She was granted ad interim bails in all but in the two cases related to Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust.

News Courtesy: www.newagerbd.net