Special privileges for Khaleda on court orders: Prison authorities

Khaleda Zia is getting special privileges in jail in line with a court order, the chief of prisons now says in contrast to his earlier comment that the former prime minister is not entitled to the division status.

In a previous media briefing, Inspector General of Prisons Brig Gen Syed Iftekhar Uddin provided explanations for why Khaleda was not accorded the privileged status and cited the Jail Code, deepening confusion over the politically sensitive issue.

The BNP chief does not fit either of the two criteria outlined for the Division status, he had said.

The comments by Iftekhar Uddin came at a time when BNP stalwarts criticised a three-day delay in providing privileged treatment for the party chief.

A Dhaka Special Judge’s Court sentenced the 72-year-old politician to five years in prison for corruption in the Zia Orphanage Trust last Thursday.

The three-time prime minister was taken to the former Dhaka Central Jail building on Nazim Uddin Road immediately after the verdict.

The BNP complained the next day, as a former head of government the party chief has not received Division status, which was confirmed by the prisons chief on Sunday.

Iftekhar Uddin’s media briefing added to the BNP leaders’ dismay instead of easing their anger as some senior party members described the incarceration of Khaleda as a “solitary confinement” in an old, abandoned jailhouse on Nazimuddin Road.

On Sunday, Khaleda’s counsels moved a petition with Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-5 seeking special privileges.

The court instructed the prison authorities to follow the Jail Code, after which the IG of Prisons said they had taken measures in line with the court orders.

Sanaullah Mia, one of Khaleda’s lawyers, told bdnews24.com the court has cleared first-class prisoner status for his client.