UNB :
The Law Ministry on Wednesday recommended for extending BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s jail term suspension period by another six months.
The recommendation was resent to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Law Minister Anisul Huq told UNB on Wednesday.
Anisul Huq said Khaleda’s sentence suspension period was extended by another six months under the previous conditions (not allowed to go abroad and to undergo medical treatment in the country).
“Everything is as before, nothing new has been added,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said the petition seeking extension of Khaleda Zia’s jail term suspension was sent to the Law Ministry for scrutinizing.
On February 8, 2018, Khaleda was sent to the Old Dhaka Central Jail after a subordinate court sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. The High Court later doubled her jail term.
The former prime minister was found guilty in another corruption case the same year. Her party claims both cases are politically motivated.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government freed Khaleda Zia from jail for six months through an executive order suspending her sentences on March 25 last year.
She was released from the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) the same day, and she has been staying at her Gulshan house since then.
On August 27 last year, the government extended the suspension of her sentence by six more months.
