BNP has claimed that the jail authorities have barred party leaders, doctors, and relatives from meeting its Chairperson Khaleda Zia in jail for a long time.
“We have submitted five applications in December, 2018, to jail authoritiesto meet with the BNP chairperson but we are unable to meet with her as the authority did not permit us to do so,” said Khaleda’s Personal Assistant Abdus Sattar.
The authority has told us over the phone that they are looking into this matter, he added.
Last Wednesday, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also submitted an application to the Ministry of Home Affairs to meet with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
In that letter, Fakhrul claimed that the chairperson’s health condition is deteriorating and they asked to for informationabout her health on an emergency basis.
Fakhrul also said in that letter that no senior leaders could hold a meeting with their chairperson for a long time.
Earlier on December 29, 2018, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said: “According to the jail’s provisions, relatives may visit prisoners once a week. However, in the case of Khaleda Zia, this provision has been extended to a 15-day period. Now that 15-day provision is also being overridden on government orders.”
Rizvi also claimed that not only her relatives, but also the people of the country, are extremely anxious and concerned about this matter.
The former prime minister has been serving time at the old Dhaka Central Jail since February, 2018, after she was sentenced to a five-year imprisonment for corruption in the Zia Orphanage Trust case.
