With the release of BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, her domestic-help Fatema Begum, who had accompanied her voluntarily, also came out of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) prison cell, after over 25 months.
Khaleda, together with Fatema, left the BSMMU for her Gulshan residence around 4:20pm on Wednesday, reports UNB.
BNP sources said Fatema will be staying with Khaleda at her home, Firoza, in Dhaka’s Gulshan area to look after her as she did in the prison.
Fatema joined Khaleda in the old central jail at Nazimuddin Road in Dhaka on February 8, 2018 after the jail authorities allowed her to remain there to assist Khaleda following a plea of the BNP chief’s lawyers in the court.
Khaleda Zia has been released for six months, by suspending her sentences following an executive order, after serving for over 25 months since she had been convicted and sent to jail in graft cases.
The government passed the executive order for her release upon two conditions -- receiving treatment by staying at her Gulshan residence and not leaving Bangladesh.
Khaleda has been in jail since she was convicted in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8, 2018.
She was found guilty in another corruption case later the same year, though her party claims that both cases are politically motivated.
Khaleda has been receiving treatment at BSMMU since April 1 last year.