'Khaleda Zia not being disgraced'

Senior Correspondent: Awami League (AL) General Secretary Obaidul Quader said BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is not being disgraced in jail. She is being provided everything needs for a person to live there.

"Her (Khaleda) status is very high as the chief of a big political party and three-time prime minister of the country. She is not being deprived of facilities," he added.

The Road Transport and Bridges Minister Quader made the remarks to the reporters at Secretariat on Sunday.

He said jail is not a place for leading a luxurious life or for spending leisure time. The BNP chief is getting facilities available in all jails as per jail code.

Mentioning that during 11/1 period, the two former prime ministers were not provided with any housemaid in the sub-jail, Quader said there is no such example to allow domestic help with great leaders like Moulana Bhasani and Bangabandhu in prison.

Asked why Khaleda Zia has been kept at an abandoned building, the minister clarified that it is not an abandoned building at all.

"She has been kept at the office of jail superintendent after its renovation, and it is a well- furnished one," he added.

About bringing back four other convicts in the Zia Orphanage Trust Graft Case, including BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, Quader said Interpol has already been informed officially about the matter.

A special court in Dhaka on Thursday convicted former prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment in the much-talked-about Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

 

risingbd/Dhaka/February 11, 2018/Naymuddin/A K Azad