Staff Reporter :
Though the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has issued a 48-hour ultimatum, the government has nothing to do with BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia’s treatment abroad considering the legal aspect.
“As per law, the government has nothing to do as I have told it earlier that the BNP chief got a conditional release as her jail term suspended under Section 401 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure which is a gesture of generosity from the Prime Minister.
So, if any change is brought in this legal position then her conditional release has to be canceled first.
Then other things may be considered in this regard,” Law Minister Anisul Huq said these while talking to reporters at the secretariat on Monday.
In response to a question on the 48-hour ultimatum given by the BNP leaders to send Khaleda Zia abroad for her better treatment, the Law Minister said that he has no comment in this regard.
Khaleda Zia was sent to the Old Dhaka Jail after a lower court sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption and Zia Charitable Trust case on February 8, 2018.
On Sunday, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir issued an ultimatum to the government to take necessary steps to send Khaleda Zia abroad for better treatment within 48 hours, or be held responsible if anything happens to her.
Meanwhile, BNP national standing committee member Mirza Abbas warned that if Khaleda Zia was not sent abroad within the next 36 hours and something happens to her, the consequences will not be good.
“I will again request sending the country’s leader abroad for treatment within 48 hours as 12 hours have already been passed… so within 36 hours,” said the opposition leader before a doa mahfil at the party’s central office at Naya Paltan on Monday morning.
However, responding to a question about Home Minister’s statement over Khaleda Zia issue, Anisul Huq said, “The application has to be sent to the Home Ministry first and the Home Ministry will send it to the Law Ministry and it depends on the opinion of the Law Ministry.
I think that the government can’t do anything more as per the law.”
Earlier on September 18, the Security Services Division under the Home Ministry issued a notification extending the suspension of Khaleda’s jail term by another six months.
Khaleda Zia has to receive treatment in Dhaka, and she will not be allowed to go abroad during this period, said the notification.
The 78-year-old former prime minister has been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, heart, and eye problems.
Since her conditional release in 2020, the BNP chief has been receiving treatment at the hospital under a medical board headed by cardiologist Prof Shahabuddin Talukder.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government of Bangladesh temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail through an executive order suspending her sentence on March 25, 2020, with the condition that she will stay in her Gulshan house and not leave the country.
Quoting doctors, the BNP leaders have been continuously saying that the physical condition of BNP Chairperson is very critical and she needs treatment from an advanced hospital abroad immediately.
