Khaleda not given facilities an ex-PM deserves in jail: BNP

Khaleda Zia is not given the facilities she deserves as a former prime minister in jail, the BNP has alleged.

The party raised the allegation during a meeting of its senior leaders at their chairperson's Gulshan office on Saturday evening, with their chief Khaleda in jail for corruption and acting chief Tarique Rahman abroad.

Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir came out of the meeting to brief the media at around 8pm, and demanded, "Khaleda be given the facilities she deserves as a Division 1 inmate."

He said the government would have to bear the responsibilities if something happened to Khaleda otherwise.

Moudud Ahmed, a senior BNP leader and also a lawyer for Khaleda, raised the same allegation after meeting her earlier in the day in the old jail on Dhaka’s Nazimuddin Road.

Mirza Fakhrul said, “You’ll be surprised to know that she has been kept in solitary confinement in the abandoned central jail where no one lives now.”

He said the buildings on the old jail compound were ‘rickety and damp’.

“She has not been given any division yet. We demand she be immediately given division and the facilities and dignity she deserves,” the BNP leader said.

He said no court permission was needed to give a division status to Khaleda as per the jail code. Her position as the former leader of the opposition in parliament also makes her qualify for the division.

After the delivery of the verdict of the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on Thursday, the authorities took Khaleda to the jail, which is located at a walking distance from the Fifth Special Judge’s Court of Dhaka at Bakhshibazar, which delivered the verdict and is also hearing another graft case against the BNP chief.

The inmates of the old Dhaka Central Jail were transferred to the new prison in Keraniganj around two years ago.   

After the verdict, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said they considered Khaleda’s social status and age in deciding to keep her at the Old Dhaka prison.

He also said the former prime minister would get all the facilities she deserves in line with the jail code.

According to the Jail Code, a former prime minister is a Division 1 inmate.

The inmates of this top division can watch television and read one newspaper delivered by the authorities. They have to buy other newspapers.

They can also read books and are permitted to write one letter a week, which will be sent after screening.

Jail officials said they would provide high-quality food to Khaleda and would prioritise her choice.

The first division inmates get fish, meat, vegetables, lentil soup along with the fine variety of rice. They are also given tea or coffee.

They have breakfast as per their choice and fruits in the afternoon.

Besides the food provided by the authorities, they can buy extra food from the jail canteen.

Earlier after visiting Khaleda, Moudud said Khaleda was given ‘inedible food’.

Inspector General of Prisons Brig Gen Syed Iftekhar Uddin, Deputy Inspector General Touhidul Islam, and Senor Jail Superintendent Jahangir Kabir did not respond to bdnews24.com call for comments on the BNP allegations.

The guards in front of the prison did not let the bdnews24.com correspondent enter the jail for comment of any official.

Mirza Fakhrul also alleged that the jail authorities neither took ‘any steps for Khaleda’s treatment nor allowed her house help Fatema Begum to serve her’. Fatema, 35, is working for Khaleda for around two decades.  

“These are inhumane,” the BNP leader said.

The meeting continued from 6:30pm to 9pm.

This is the first meeting of the senior BNP leaders after Khaleda’s conviction.

Besides Standing Committee members, vice-chairmen, members of Chairperson’s Advisory Council, and joint secretaries general attended the meeting.

The seat for the meeting’s chair was kept empty.

Their Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique, who is working as the acting chairman of the party in his mother’s absence, delivered a speech through mobile phone during the meeting from London.

Mirza Fakhrul said the leaders condemned the conviction of Khaleda on ‘false charges’.

They also demanded the release of all the arrested leaders and activists of the party, including Standing Committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy.

He thanked Khaleda’s supporters for ‘continuing protest programmes peacefully against all odds’.