Former Bangladeshi prime minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has been officially released. The decision was revealed in media statement issued from Bangabhaban.
The release also says the process of releasing those detained in the student movement and various cases from July 1 to August 5 has begun, with many already being freed.
On Monday, President Mohammed Shahabuddin agreed to release Khaleda after holding a meeting with Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman, along with the head of the navy and air force, and top leaders of several opposition parties, including the BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami party. She is currently at Evercare Hospital undergoing treatment.
BNP Media Cell member Shairul Kabir Khan said,President Shahabuddin has ordered the release of Begum Zia. This joy is beyond words.
The former prime minister was under house arrest after the government temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail through an executive order suspending her sentence on March 25, 2020, with the condition that she stay in her Gulshan house and not leave the country during the pandemic. That has since been extended multiple times to keep her out of jail.
The BNP chief landed in jail on February 8, 2018, after a special court sentenced her to five years in prison in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. On October 30, 2018, the High Court raised her punishment to 10 years.
In the meantime, India has reportedly made contact with Bangladesh’s military leadership, led by Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman, and requested that peace, law and order, and normalcy be restored as soon as possible in the country, according to a report of Hindustan Times.
Citing India’s top government sources, the report says that the Modi government has already contacted the Bangladesh Army Chief and expressed its willingness to help restore normalcy in the nation following Sheikh Hasina’s resignation on Monday.
