Inform SC about my illness, Khaleda asks lawyers

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia today asked her lawyers to bring the matter of her “serious illnesses” to the notice of the Supreme Court during the hearing on her bail in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on Tuesday.

Khaleda's lawyer Abdur Rezzak Khan came up with the information while talking to reporters after meeting Khaleda in the Old Dhaka Central jail at Nazimuddin Road.

Rezzak along with four other senior Supreme Court lawyers -- Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, Zainul Abedin, AJ Mohammad Ali and Mahbubuddin Khokon -- entered the jail around 4:00pm and came out of it after nearly an hour-long meeting with the BNP chief.

"Madam (Khaleda) told us to inform the Supreme Court that she is critically ill, and her health condition is gradually deteriorating for her stay in the damping environment of the jail," Rezzak said.

The lawyer said Khaleda also asked them to present an argument before the apex court that the High Court earlier granted her bail on health ground.

Khandaker Mahbub said they hoped that the Supreme Court will grant bail to Khaleda on Tuesday if the rule of law persists in the country.

Zainul Abedin, also the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said they found Khaleda in a serious ailing condition. "She can't move her left hand while she has also problem in her neck. She needs better treatment which is not possible in jail."

He said Khaleda needs to receive treatment at United Hospital. "She was sent to jail in a politically motivated case. It's regrettable that she has been going through sufferings in jail without treatment."

On February 8, Dhaka Special Court-5 convicted the BNP chairperson and sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). She was then sent to Old Dhaka Central Jail.

She secured four months' bail from the High Court in the case on March 12.

As the ACC moved the apex court challenging the High Court order, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court stayed Khaleda Zia's bail till May 8 in the case.