Fakhrul refutes report on Khaleda’s ‘imminent parole, foreign tour’

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has denied a news report that Khaleda Zia is getting parole fpr treatment in the UK this month.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 16 April 2019, 05:56 PM
Updated : 16 April 2019, 06:01 PM

“Khaleda Zia hasn’t decided (to seek) parole for treatment,” the BNP secretary general told a discussion in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Without naming “the English daily”, Mirza Fakhrul described its report on the BNP chief’s “imminent parole and foreign tour” as “yellow journalism”.

“It appears very unfair to me. And it’s unfortunate that they (the newspaper) had asked me about it. I had told them that it’s baseless and doesn’t have an iota of truth. They however published it with importance,” he said.        

The BNP leader urged the media to refrain from publishing “such reports”.

“The consequences of misleading the people won’t be good,” he said.

The former prime minister has been serving total 17 years in jail in two corruption cases since February last year.

She is at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in Dhaka for treatment now under the supervision of the jail authorities.

After visiting her at the hospital on Sunday amid speculations over her release, Mirza Fakhrul told the media that the decision to seek parole depended on Khaleda and her family, not the party.

Earlier this month, as political discussions about possibilities of her seeking parole continued, Mirza Fakhrul had said the BNP demands unconditional release of its chief from jail, not parole.

Government ministers said the legal procedure will be followed if Khaleda applied for parole.

Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, a BNP leader and one of the lawyers for Khaleda, had demanded last year that the BNP chief be freed on parole for treatment. He had said he saw it as being the only path that leads to her release.