Khaleda’s jail term suspension gets 6-month extension

The government has extended BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's jail term suspension for another six months, with the condition that she would take treatment at home.

"This is the fourth time her conviction has been suspended under the same conditions, following an application from her brother," Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters at the Secretariat on Sunday.

Khaleda's younger brother Shamim Iskander recently submitted the application to take her abroad. The home ministry forwarded that application to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 7 September. 

Law Minister Anisul Huq too had earlier spoken in favour of a conditional suspension of Khaleda Zia's jail sentence for six months.

The former prime minister, jailed on charges of corruption in 2018, was first let out of prison on 25 March 2020 after her jail sentence was suspended. The third six-month jail term suspension is set to end on 24 September.

Convicted in two corruption cases, she was temporarily released by the government by an executive order considering her age and on humanitarian grounds amid the Covid-19 epidemic.

In April this year, the 76-year-old BNP chief tested positive for Covid-19 and took treatment at home. Later, she was admitted to the Evercare Hospital. She tested negative for Covid-19 on 8 May.

The BNP chief landed in jail in February 2018 in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. Later on 30 October that year, the High Court extended her punishment to 10 years after dismissing her appeal. 

Besides, Khaleda Zia was sentenced to seven years after a special court convicted her in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in October 2018. She is still facing at least 36 ongoing cases.