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The High Court has extended its earlier orders that granted bail to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in two defamation cases until the disposal of those at the trial courts.
The HC bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Aminul Islam passed the orders after hearing two separate prayers moved by Khaleda Zia's lawyers on Monday.
The defamation cases were filed against Khaleda Zia in Dhaka and Narail on different dates in 2015 and 2016 for her statements over Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Liberation War and the number of martyrs on separate occasions.
On September 28 last year, the HC extended the bail of Khaleda Zia in the cases for one year.
Barrister Kayser Kamal who appeared in the court hearing on behalf of Khaleda Zia said, “We placed prayer for the extension of the bail orders as the tenure of the previous orders has ended. After hearing, the court granted her (Khaleda Zia) bail till the disposal of the cases in the trial court.”
On December 21, 2015, Khaleda in a discussion at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh in Dhaka 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, AB Siddique, President of Bangladesh Jananetri Parishad, a pro-Awami League (AL) organization, filed one defamation case with a Dhaka court on January 5 in 2016. A Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka rejected Khaleda’s bail in the case on August 7 in 2018. Then she moved to High Court and secured bail on August 14 of that year.
Apart from this, Raihan Farooque Imam of Naragati in Narail filed a case with the Cognizance Court on December 24, 2015. A Narail Court rejected Khaleda’s bail in the case on August 5 in 2018. However, she secured bail in the case on August 13 of that year.
Lawyers said Khaleda Zia is accused in 37 criminal cases, and she is now on bail in 35 cases.
The BNP chief has been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 17 years, in total, in Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust cases by the trial court and HC.
She was released from jail on March 25 in 2020 following an executive order of the government suspending her jail sentences.
Later the government extended the suspension of BNP chairperson’s prison sentence for the three consecutive phases allowing her to stay out of jail.