The family of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has submitted an application to the government seeking further extension of her conditional release and allowing her to go abroad for receiving advanced treatment.
On behalf of the family, Khaleda’s younger brother Shamim Iskander recently submitted the application to the Home Ministry, an official at the ministry said on Tuesday.
Contacted, Law Minister Anisul Huq told UNB, “As the suspension of Khaleda Zia jail sentences is going to end on September 24, her family has applied for its extension.”
In the application, the minister said, the BNP chief’s family claimed that her physical condition has worsened due to post-Covid complications, and they again sought the government permission to send her abroad for treatment.
Upon their application, Anisul said, the Home Ministry sent a file to the Law Ministry a few days back seeking its legal opinion.
“We gave our opinion over the matter, and sent the file back to the Home Ministry this (Tuesday) morning,” he said.
The minister said the Home Ministry will now send the file to the Prime Minister’s Office for approval.
Asked what opinion he gave, Anisul declined to disclose it.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government freed Khaleda Zia from jail for six months through an executive order suspending her sentences on March 25 last year.
The government extended her release for six more months on August 27 last year and it was extended further for another six months on March 15 last.
Khaleda Zia tested positive for Covid-19 on April 10, and she was admitted to Evercare Hospital on April 27. She received treatment there until June 19 for post-Covid complications and some other underlying health problems.
On May 5, her family applied to the government seeking permission to take her abroad for better treatment, but the government turned it down saying there is no scope for a convicted person to avail of such a scope.
Source: United News of Bangladesh