Shafiqul Islam (Shafiq)
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said that the issue of extending the conditional release of BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia by suspending her sentence is under process. He said this while talking to reporters at the secretariat on Thursday (September 16). Meanwhile, the law ministry has given an opinion on extending Khaleda Zia’s release by six months.
Asked about the progress of Khaleda Zia’s application for permanent release, the Home Minister said, Khaleda Zia’s younger brother was coming to us with an application. We sent it to the law ministry for due process. You know, I was abroad. I’m back now.
The process is going on according to the opinion given by the Law Ministry. I just came to the office. As far as the process is concerned, I can’t say without knowing. The suspension will end on September 24, the Home Minister said, adding that it is under process.
The Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will go abroad on the 17th September (Friday), in which case today is the day- the Home Minister said, you should wait. We can’t yes/no or nothing. It is in the process and it will go to the Hon’ble Prime Minister. That is on process.
Khaleda Zia, convicted in two cases, was jailed on February 8, 2018. But due to the epidemic corona virus, Khaleda Zia’s sentence has been suspended in an executive order on March 25, 2020 on humanitarian grounds.
She suffers from various physical complications. On April 3, she contracted corona virus. She was also treated at the Evercare Hospital in the capital.
Her sentence is coming to an end on September 24. In this situation, a few days before Khaleda Zia’s release for better treatment, her younger brother Shamim Eskander applied to the Home Minister. The application was later sent to the law ministry for an opinion from the home ministry.
On September 7, the law ministry gave its opinion on the application to the home ministry. She will not be allowed to go abroad and will have to seek medical treatment at home.
Now, if the Prime Minister approves it, the Home Ministry’s Security Services Department will issue a notification suspending Khaleda Zia’s sentence for another six months.
