Law ministry agrees to extend Khaleda’s stay out of jail by another 6 months

Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs has agreed to extend Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Khaleda Zia's stay out of jail for another six months, the Ministry of Home Affairs will issue a notification in this regard after the formalities are done, said Law Minister Anisul Huq.

"We have agreed to extend her stay out of jail by another 6 months, but the same conditions will remain as before – that she will not be able to travel abroad and will have to get medical treatment in Bangladesh," the minister told The Business Standard. 

Family members of Khaleda Zia filed a petition to the Home Ministry on 11 September requesting the government to continue the suspension of her jail sentence. 

Earlier, Law Minister Anisul Huq had said that the government will extend the suspension of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's jail sentence in two corruption cases if her family files any petition. 

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government freed Khaleda Zia from jail for six months through an executive order suspending her sentence on 25 March, 2020.

The government extended her conditional release from jail in the two corruption cases several times.

The former prime minister was sent to Old Dhaka Central Jail after she was sentenced to five years' imprisonment by a special court in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on 8 February, 2018.

She was convicted in a second corruption case later.

The 76-year-old BNP chief has been staying at her Gulshan residence since her release from jail. A special team of physicians has been overseeing her treatment.