BNP chief Khaleda Zia to stay out of prison for 6 more months

The government has extended BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s prison-term suspension by six months in two cases over corruption.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 15 Sept 2020, 09:58 AM
Updated : 15 Sept 2020, 10:21 AM

The home ministry announced the executive order on Tuesday following an appeal from her family.

Khaleda’s previous suspended sentence is scheduled to end on Sept 24. The government freed her on Mar 25 for six months following the family’s petition amid the coronavirus pandemic on condition of receiving treatment at home.

Khaleda is not allowed to travel abroad.

“BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s family appealed for an extension of the suspension of her imprisonment. We received a recommendation from the law ministry,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters. The announcement came shortly after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved the six-month extension.

The 75-year-old former prime minister had been receiving treatment in hospital under the supervision of the prison authorities. She had served 25 months out of 17 years of prison sentences in two graft cases, involving Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust.