HC extends Khaleda’s bail in 2 cases

The High Court yesterday extended its bail orders in the two defamation cases against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia .

The bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Aminul Islam passed the extension orders following two separate prayers moved by Khaleda Zia's lawyers.

The defamation cases were filed against Khaleda Zia in Narail and Dhaka in 2015 and 2017 for her statements over Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Liberation War, and the number of its martyrs on separate occasions.

On September 28 last year, the HC extended the bail of Khaleda Zia in the cases for one year.

On December 21, 2015, Khaleda Zia at a discussion at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh raised questions about the actual number of Liberation War martyrs saying, "There are controversies over how many were martyred in the Liberation War. There are also many books and documents on the controversies."

Reacting to Khaleda's remarks, Raihan Farooque Imam of Narail's Naragati filed the case on December 24, 2015.

AB Siddique, president of Bangladesh Jananetri Parishad, a pro-AL organisation, filed a defamation case with a Dhaka court on January 25, 2017, against Khaleda Zia, claiming that she, at a programme, said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman did not want Bangladesh's independence; rather he (Sheikh Mujib) had wanted to be prime minister of Pakistan.

Lawyers Kayser Kamal and AHM Kamruzzaman Mamun appeared for Khaleda Zia.

Kayser Kamal told The Daily Star that the HC extended the bail of his client, Khaleda Zia, as she has not misused the ad-interim bail earlier granted by this court to her in the cases.

Khaleda Zia is accused in 37 criminal cases and she is now on bail in 35 cases, he said.

The BNP chief landed in jail after being sentenced to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case by a special court in Dhaka on February 8, 2018.

She has been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 17 years, in total, in Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust corruption cases by the trial court and HC.

She was released from jail on March 25, 2020, following an executive order from the government suspending her jail sentence.