Fakhrul greets Khaleda Zia after she is freed

On Tuesday, President Mohammed Shahabuddin reprieved Khaleda from her sentence under the presidential power stated in Article 49 of the constitution

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has greeted BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia who was ‘freed’ from a prison sentence for corruption following a mass movement that toppled the Sheikh Hasina government.

Fakhrul went to Evercare Hospital at 11:30pm on Tuesday and met Khaleda.

He greeted her with flowers and updated the chairperson about the current situation in the country.

‘‘Madam is sick. We have always kept her informed of the current situation in the country. She asked the people to maintain peace and discipline and remain united to confront the situation.”

On Tuesday, President Mohammed Shahabuddin exempted Khaleda from her punishment under the presidential power stated in Article 49 of the constitution. She was completely freed after the Home Ministry issued a notice to the effect.

The decision was taken after President Mohammed Shahabuddin sat with the chiefs of the armed forces, different political parties, members of civil society and representatives from the Anti-discrimination Student Movement in a meeting on Monday, the Bangabhaban said in a press statement.

Former prime minister Khaleda Zia was sent to jail for five years on Feb 8, 2018, in the Zia Orphanage Trust embezzlement case. Her jail term was extended to 10 years following an appeal to the High Court.

The BNP chairperson was also given seven years in jail in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case. She was kept in the prison at Nazimuddin Road in Old Dhaka.

The Awami League had imprisoned their leader in ‘false cases,’ to keep her away from politics, the BNP has maintained.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Khaleda was temporarily released from prison through an executive order after her family petitioned the government in 2020. She returned to her residence Feroza in Gulshan on Mar 25, 2020 and has lived there since then with trips to the hospital to see to her care.

Khaleda’s family appealed every six months to maintain her release from prison and the Hasina government approved the petitions. However, two conditions were imposed on her release which maintained that she had to stay home and could not travel abroad.

Khaleda has been admitted to the Evercare Hospital since Jul 8.

A medical team led by Dr Shahabuddin Talukdar have been treating her.

The BNP chairperson has been suffering from cardiac disease, diabetes, arthritis, and liver, and kidney ailments for a long time. She had to be hospitalised several times since she was released from prison.

Her medical board has suggested taking her to a multidisciplinary medical centre abroad for advanced treatment, but the government denied the request, arguing it was against the terms of her release.