The Law Ministry has opined that the government may extend the suspension period of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's jail sentence.
This is the seventh term the government is allowing the BNP chief to enjoy the facility on health grounds since 2020. The BNP, however, demands unconditional release of the former premier, while terming the corruption cases false and politically motivated.
“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,” Law Minister Anisul Huq said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat on Sunday.
His ministry received the petition seeking another extended suspension of Khaleda Zia's jail term from the Home Ministry on Thursday, UNB reported.
The 77-year-old BNP chief has been staying at her Gulshan residence since her release in 2020. She also received treatment at Evercare Hospital in the capital six times since she was infected with Covid-19 in April 2021
As per her physicians, Khaleda Zia has been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, heart, and eye problems.
Khaleda Zia's younger brother Shamim Eskandar submitted the fresh application to the Home Ministry recently, seeking a further extension to the suspended jail term as the previous order expires on March 24.
In the application, he also urged the government to relax the conditions of the BNP chief's release and allow her to go abroad for treatment.
In the previous applications, Khaleda's family also sought permission to send her abroad for medical treatment. The government accepted all the previous applications but did not permit her to go abroad for treatment, saying that there is no such scope under the laws.
On various occasions, the law minister explained that there was no legal scope to relax the conditions given by the government during Khaleda's first release through an executive order on March 25, 2020.
Since then, her release term has been extended every six months following the family's plea.
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.
Law Minister Anisul Huq said on Sunday that the BNP chairperson could participate in politics, since it was her personal matter. “The government will not interfere in her politics,” said the minister.
But she would not be able to contest the next general election because of her conviction in corruption cases. “The constitution states that any person who has been sentenced to two years of imprisonment cannot participate in the elections. There is nothing new to say,” said Anisul.
In particular, Khaleda Zia is not barred from doing politics as her party leaders and relatives linked to the BNP often met her. But she cannot run for the election due to her conviction in corruption cases.