Khaleda to be taken to BSMMU for treatment following court orders

Khaleda Zia will be taken to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University or BSMMU for treatment following High Court orders and her lawyers have not objected to the move.

“We’ve sent the court orders through a special messenger (on Thursday night). We hope she will be taken to the Bangabandhu Medical University on Friday,” Mahbub Uddin Khokon, one of the lawyers for the jailed BNP chief, told bdnews24.com on Thursday night.

The 73-year-old former prime minister had earlier refused to get treated at the BSMMU and her party had demanded she be treated at the United Hospital.

Khokan, a joint secretary general of the party, was asked about their change of heart on the issue and whether Khaleda had agreed to get medical attention at the BSMMU.

“(Her) condition is very bad. The court has ordered quick steps,” he replied.

Earlier in the day, the High Court ordered the government to quickly shift Khaleda to the hospital from jail.

While ruling on a petition to transfer Khaleda to a specialised hospital, it also instructed the authorities to reconstitute a five-member medical team formed by the government in September.

The new team will replace three physicians with as many new members, according to the orders.

Abdul Jalil Chowdhury, a professor of internal medicine at BSMMU, and Badrunnesa Ahmed, an associate professor of physical medicine, will continue to remain on the board.

But Prof Abu Zaffar Chowdhury, an orthopaedic surgeon, Harisul Haque, a cardiologist, and Associate Professor Tariq Reza Ali, an ophthalmologist, will not be part of the new board.

The government will not be allowed to nominate any current or former member or supporter of Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad, a pro-Awami League organisation, and the Doctors Association of Bangladesh, a pro-BNP association.

The court said Khaleda can choose a physiotherapist, a gynaecologist, a technician and a physician from outside BSMMU for her treatment, subject to the approval of the medical team.

The court also directed the authorities to start her medical treatment soon after her admission to hospital.

On Sept 13, the government formed a medical team led by Prof Jalil Chowdhury for examining Khaleda’s health and the team visited her two days later in the old jailhouse on the Nazimuddin Road where she is the lone prisoner.

BSMMU authorities said the doctors found ‘nothing serious’ in the checkup.

The BNP has accused the government of putting its pro-AL doctors in the team in order to manipulate the medical report and has demanded the inclusion of Khaleda's personal physicians on the board.

This will be the second time Khaleda is being taken to the BSMMU from the jail. She was taken to the hospital on Apr 7 for checkup.

The BNP chairperson has been serving a five-year sentence in jail in Old Dhaka since on Feb 8 when she was convicted in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

The government has set up a special court inside the jailhouse to end the hearing on the Zia Charitable Trust graft case as Khaleda has been unable to appear in court for several months due to her ‘illness’.

She appeared in the special court in a wheelchair on Sept 5 and told the court that she was ‘sick’ and would not appear in it again.