Hopes for BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s treatment abroad remain alive despite Law Minister Anisul Huq’s rejection of the application in this regard yesterday, government and ruling party insiders have said.
In order to have any chance of her receiving treatment abroad, Khaleda Zia’s family must go through the court and not the Home Ministry, the sources added.
Raising questions about the procedure that Khaleda Zia's family members are following, a top leader of the Awami League said: "Why are they writing to the Home Ministry? A convicted person's overseas treatment permission is not a matter for the Home Ministry or the Law Ministry; it's a matter for the court.
"If Khaleda Zia or her family members present their issues before the court while following proper procedure, and if the court becomes convinced about her medical condition, then the court can decide about Khaleda Zia's bail," they added, seeking anonymity.
Referring to the case of Nawaz Sharif, the three-time former Prime Minister of Pakistan, insiders of the Awami League said that the Supreme Court of Pakistan agreed in 2019 to release Nawaz on bail for six weeks to receive medical treatment, and later he left Pakistan in an air ambulance to receive medical treatment in London, accompanied by his younger brother and personal physician.
An Awami League leader asked: "Why are Khaleda Zia's party leaders or her family not following this process if they genuinely want their chairperson's treatment abroad?"
Recently, in an interview with Voice of America, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also said: "They must seek court permission through an application to take her abroad. She can go abroad if the court permits her.
"We cannot intervene in court proceedings. My role as prime minister is limited to suspending her jail sentence on humanitarian grounds and granting her permission to remain at home," she added.
Following the prime minister's speech on Sunday afternoon in a meeting of Awami League, Obaidul Quader, general secretary of the ruling party, also spoke about this issue and said: "If Khaleda Zia wants to go abroad, she should follow the existing laws of the country and should follow the court's decision accordingly."
Referring to the case of ASM Abdur Rab, a senior politician of Bangladesh who was convicted by a military court during the regime of late President Ziaur Rahman in Bangladesh, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Quader said: "The case of ASM Abdur Rab cannot be an example. Lawmaker Haji Salim also did not get a chance to go beyond the law when he went abroad for medical treatment."
When asked about the clarification, a leader of the Awami League, who is a lawyer by profession, said that the regime of Ziaur Rahman was termed as unconstitutional by an apex court verdict, so the example of ASM Rab cannot be followed.
Several top leaders of the ruling party told this correspondent yesterday that they want BNP to follow the legal procedure before taking Khaleda Zia away from Bangladesh for her medical purposes.
BNP top leaders maintain that the government is unjustly imprisoning Khaleda Zia in a false case and pushing her to her death without giving her a chance to be treated.
"There is no corruption case against Khaleda Zia. The money that they said was Tk2.33 crore has now gone over Tk8 crore... It's in the bank. Begum Khaleda Zia has been detained with false cases so that she cannot engage in politics, solely because of political vendetta," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Saturday.
Regarding Fakhrul’s comment, Awami League General Secretary Quader asked: "Why does BNP appeal to the 'illegal government' for Khaleda's release?"
What does the Law Minister say?
Law Minister Anisul Huq on Sunday rejected the application filed for requesting BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's overseas treatment.
The minister said Khaleda Zia must go to jail before she can go abroad for medical treatment.
Anisul Huq said that according to Section 401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, if an application is disposed of once, there is no opportunity to reconsider it. For this reason, an opinion has been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs explaining sub-sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of Section 401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
He stated that once an application has been disposed of under Section 401, it is a "past and closed transaction," and there is no chance of reopening it.
He made these remarks while replying to questions from journalists at the Secretariat on Sunday.
What does the BNP lawyer say?
BNP's Legal Affairs Secretary Barrister Kayser Kamal criticized the Ministry of Law's decision regarding Khaleda Zia's travel for treatment, saying that the requirement for her to go to jail first before applying to the court is a cruel joke.
His remarks came immediately after Law Minister Anisul Huq announced the decision on Sunday.
Barrister Kayser Kamal said: "Today's (yesterday’s) decision once again proves that there is no rule of law in the country. Khaleda Zia has been made the subject of a cruel joke through this decision. Section 401 of the Criminal Procedure Code clearly states that the government can release her by executive order."
Kayser Kamal pointed out the inconsistency in the law minister's statement, saying: "The law minister publicly stated that any application on behalf of Khaleda Zia would be carefully considered. In response, Khaleda Zia's brother submitted an application on September 25. However, it was not assessed legally but rather politically. Today's decision reflects this political vendetta."
Khaleda Zia’s health condition
For the past 50 days, the 78-year-old Khaleda Zia has been under treatment at Evercare Hospital in the capital city, Dhaka. Her health has not shown significant improvement.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's health struggles began after her imprisonment in February 2018 in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.
She spent nearly two years behind bars and was subsequently granted conditional release on March 25, 2020, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since then, her release has been extended every six months due to her deteriorating health condition.
On September 25, Khaleda Zia's younger brother Shamim Iskander met Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and filed an application to send the BNP chief abroad for treatment.
The Ministry of Home Affairs then sent the application to the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs.