Khaleda gets six-month bail in defamation cases

The High Court has granted six-month bail to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in two defamation cases filed against her.

Court Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 18 June 2019, 06:51 AM
Updated : 18 June 2019, 10:32 AM

Justice Muhammad Abdul Hafiz and Justice Kashefa Hussain passed the order on Tuesday after hearing a bail petition filed by Khaleda’s lawyers.

“Both the cases are bailable. But we had to come to the High Court as the lower court denied her bail. The High Court has granted six-month bail in each of the cases,” Khaleda’s legal adviser Moudud Ahmed said after the order.   

Khaleda will not be released from jail as she is convicted in two corruption cases.

Deputy Attorney General Fazlur Rahman Khan represented the state during the hearing.

“Bangladesh Awami League promotes fake secularism in the party. In reality, they are the atheists. People irrespective of their religion are unsafe in their hands. The Awami League usurped the assets of people from the Hindu community when they came into power; they even attacked the Hindus,” Khaleda had said in an event at Engineers Institute of Bangladesh on Oct 14, 2014.

On Oct 21 in the same year, AB Siddique, president of the Janannetri Parishad, a pro-Awami League organization, filed a case against Khaleda with a complaint that Khaleda’s statement hurt the religious sentiment of the people as well as it caused disunity among Hindus and Muslims. 

He had filed another defamation case against Khaleda over the complaint of making derogatory remarks on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Awami League, on Jan 25, 2017. 

According to the case details, Khaleda made disdainful remarks on Bangabandhu and the Awami League in her speech as the chief guest in the founding anniversary of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the BNP on Dec 31, 2016. 

The Shahbagh police submitted the final report against the BNP chief on both cases on Jun 30, 2018 and the court issued an arrest warrant against her on Mar 20 considering the reports on both cases.

Khaleda’s lawyers then appealed for her bail to the High Court.