BNP announces another protest rally for Khaleda’s freedom

The BNP has announced another countrywide protest for Tuesday andThursday to demand the ‘unconditional’ release of party chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Senior CorrespondentSenior correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 4 March 2018, 11:56 AM
Updated : 4 March 2018, 11:56 AM

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi declared the programme, which includes a rally, from a media briefing at its Naya Paltan headquarters on Sunday.

The BNP will hold an hour-long (11am-12pm) human chain protest on Mar 6, and take position on Mar 8, he said. He did not specify the exact location. The venue in Dhaka will be announced later.

A Dhaka court on Feb 8 sentenced Khaleda to five years in jail in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

The BNP has organised four rounds of protests following the verdict, including rallies, human-chains, a hunger strike, a petition campaign, the submission of memoranda and the display of black flags.

Rizvi claimed that BNP Joint Secretary General Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal has been kept in a small `solitary cell’ in the Kashimpur court building that is used for death-row convicts.

“Alal is kept alone and has experienced panic and mental anguish.”

Law enforcers detained BNP standing committee member Alal on Feb 24 in possession of a black flag to protest the authorities’ decision to allow the BNP to hold a party rally.

Rizvi alleged that BNP leaders were treated cruelly both in and out of jail under the rule of the current government.