DHAKA, 11 February 2020, TON: Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh National Party (BNP) is prison since 8 February 2018. She was jailed for 17 years in two corruption cases; Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust. Other case against her included; Besides the two graft cases, Khaleda is accused in 31 more cases on charges related to violent protests, defamation and sedition.

She was convicted ahead of the December 2018 elections when the courts acted on longstanding cases against her.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is hopful that 73 years old Ms Khaleda Zia would be free very soon.

Chairman BNP Tarique Rahman who is son of Ms Khaleda Zia is hopeful that international human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International will take stock of it and would request Bangladeshi government to get the old political lady free. In is interesting to note that in many cases, the charges appear baseless. In what have been described as “Ghost Cases,” some of the accused were either dead, abroad, or hospitalized at the time of their alleged offense.