Khaleda’s bail in five cases extended for one year
The High Court has extended for one year its earlier orders that granted bail to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in five cases.
Two HC benches passed the extension orders on Monday and yesterday after five prayers were moved by her lawyers.
A bench led by Justice Muhammad Abdul Hafiz yesterday extended the bail order in four defamation cases.
The cases were filed against Khaleda in Dhaka and Narail on different dates in 2014 to 2017 for her statements over Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Liberation War and the number of its martyrs on separate occasions.
On Monday, another bench headed by Justice AKM Asaduzzaman extended the bail in a murder case filed in Cumilla in 2015.
The murder case was filed against the BNP chief and others after seven people died and 25-26 others were injured when a bus was torched in Cumilla's Chouddagram during an anti-government agitation by the BNP-led 20-party alliance on February 3, 2015.
Lawyers Kayser Kamal and AHM Kamruzzaman Mamun appeared for Khaleda.
Lawyer Kamruzzaman told The Daily Star that Khaleda stands accused in 36 criminal cases and she is now on bail in 34 cases.
The BNP chief 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 last year following an executive order of the government suspending her jail sentences.
On December 21, 2015, Khaleda 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, a defamation case was filed in Narail and three others were lodged in Dhaka.
The BNP chief landed in jail after being sentenced to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case by a special court in Dhaka on February 8, 2018.
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