Application for extending stay of Khaleda Zia`s sentence

An application has been filed with the Ministry of Home Affairs to extend the stay of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's sentence.

Shamim Iskandar, younger brother of Khaleda Zia, applied to the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking the extension, said the former prime minister's family members on Wednesday (March 3).

Confirming the matter, Sharif Mahmud Apu, senior information officer of the home ministry, said, “Khaleda Zia’s younger brother Shamim Iskandar met the Home Minister this noon and handed an application to him seeking extension of the stay of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's sentence.”

In the application, her family members also sought permission to take Khaleda Zia abroad to receive treatment.

According to ministry sources, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal forwarded the application to the office of the secretary after signing it.

Khaleda Zia, who has been convicted in two separate corruption cases, was released from prison on March 25, 2020 after she served in jail for 776 days.

The government through an executive order released her for six months on conditions that she will stay at her home in the capital and not leave the country. It suspended her sentence as per section 401 of Criminal Code of Procedure on "humanitarian grounds".

Later, Khaleda Zia’s bail was extended by six more months following the application of her family members.