The lawyers of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will again file petition with the Supreme Court seeking her bail.
Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain, a Senior counsel of the BNP chief, said this on Friday evening after a meeting with the BNP Standing Committee members.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir along with other members of the party’s Standing
Committee held a meeting yesterday evening with the Senior lawyers at the party Chairperson’s political office at Gulshan in the city.
After the meeting Khandker Mahbub Hossain briefed the media saying that they discussed about the release of BNP Chairperson in the meeting. The briefing that began at 5.30pm after the meeting lasted for one and a half hours.
The lawyer said that the members of the Standing Committee wanted to know about the lawyers’ promptness in securing the bail of the BNP chief. In reply, the lawyers said that securing the bail of Khaleda Zia was not possible as there was no rule of law in the country.
He hoped that the court would not be biased by the government’s retaliation in granting bail to Khaleda Zia if any bail petition would be filed again.
After the meeting, Mirza Fakhrul Islam said Khaleda Zia should be released on the humanitarian grounds and the government should not play any game over the issue. BNP and Khaleda’s family are trying in many ways to release Khaleda Zia, added Mirza Fakhrul.
Meanwhile, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Friday said the issue of granting bail to BNP Chairperson Kheleda Zia is under the jurisdiction of the court.
Replying to a query, Quader — also the Road Transport and Bridges Minister — said the lawsuits filed against Khaleda Zia were not political; rather they were filed during the Caretaker Government regime for her corruption. Thus, her bail is under the jurisdiction of the court.
BSS adds: Quader made the remarks at AL President Sheikh Hasina’s political office in Dhanmondi yesterday.
“Public support for BNP will improve if the party shuns their politics of vengeance,” he said.
“BNP’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir called me over phone but we did not get any written statement from the party regarding the parole release of Khaleda Zia.
Besides, the Home and the Law Ministers did not receive any statement why Khaleda Zia would be released on parole,” Quader said while responding to another query.
The doctors’ statement and the BNP leaders’ claim regarding the health condition of Khaleda Zia do not match, he further said.
“The government is sincere in the proper treatment of Khaleda Zia and she is receiving proper treatment,” he added.
Khaleda Zia landed in jail on February 8, 2018, after a Dhaka court sentenced her to five years imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust case. The High Court on October 30 in the same year enhanced the punishment of Khaleda Zia to 10 years imprisonment in this case.
Besides, a Dhaka court on October 29, 2018, convicted Khaleda Zia and sentenced her to seven years’ imprisonment in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case. The apex court on December 12, 2019, rejected her bail petition in the case.
