Fakhrul: Govt intentionally delaying Khaleda's release

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has accused the government of intentionally delaying of Khaleda Zia, who is jailed in a corruption case. He made the statement while declaring fresh three-day program, including mass signature collection campaign, at party's Nayapaltan central office on Thursday. Replying to a query about Khaleda's released, he said: "We were already assuming that she [Khaleda] will be confined in jail for a longer time. "A week has already passed after the verdict, but we are yet to get the certified copy of the verdict. This proves that the government is intentionally delaying the release." "The government is trying to forcefully stop our peaceful program," the BNP leader said. The fresh programs include collecting signatures from mass people across Bangladesh on February 17, submitting memorandums to all the deputy commissioner offices on the next day and staging demonstrations in all the district towns and metropolitan cities, except Dhaka, on February 20. Fakhrul also said: "The BNP chairperson always paid tribute to the language martyrs by placing wreath at Shaheed Minar at 12:01am on February 21. But this year, we will not be doing that. "This year, we will pay floral tribute in the morning and hold rallies to observe the day." Khaleda Zia was sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on February 8. The court also sentenced five other accused, including Khaleda’s son and BNP’s acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman, to 10 years’ imprisonment each and fined them Tk2.10 crore each. Khaleda  was later sent to the old central jail at Nazimuddin Road in Dhaka. Hours after she was taken to jail, the party announced countrywide demonstrations for Friday and Saturday. Later, the party announced a three-day program from Monday to Wednesday demanding her immediate release. As part of the programs, the party observed a token hunger strike on Wednesday. They formed a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club on Monday and staged a sit-in program in front of the party's Nayapaltan central office on Tuesday.