Emergency authorities in Bangladesh released former prime minister Khaleda Zia yesterday as part of efforts to restore democracy in the South Asian country by the end of the year.
Zia, 63, walked out of jail after spending just over a year locked up over alleged corruption dating back to her two stints as prime minister from 1991-1996 and 2001-2006, her lawyer said.
Her release on bail comes as the army-backed government seeks to relinquish power and hold elections in late December.
PHOTO: AP
The participation of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is seen as crucial for the success of the polls, which will bring an end to nearly two years of emergency rule.
Lawyer Ahmed Azam Khan said Zia was allowed to leave the prison where she had been held since Sept. 3 last year at about 11:30am.
“She has been released from the jail,” Khan said.
He said Zia had gone directly to the grave of her husband, slain president Ziaur Rahman, before heading to the hospital where her ailing son Tareque Rahman — also accused of graft and bailed last week — is being treated.
Rahman has been issued a British visa and could fly to London for treatment for a spinal injury as early as yesterday evening, another lawyer Nadir Uddin Amir said.
Thousands of supporters gathered outside the prison, the cemetery and hospital awaiting Zia’s arrival, police said.
The government also wants Zia to travel abroad for medical treatment for her arthritic knee but she does not want to leave.
Although the army-backed government wants Bangladesh’s major parties to play a role in the polls, observers say it clearly wants to push Zia out and prevent the two-time prime minister from returning to office.
Zia and her arch-rival, fellow ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed of the Awami League party, are both blamed for rampant corruption and Bangladesh’s political meltdown that prompted the declaration of a state of emergency in January last year.
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