BNP rallies for Khaleda, demands her release from jail

Dhaka, July 20 (IANS) The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) took out a rally in the capital on Friday for the first time in two and a half years to demand the release of its chairperson and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who is serving a five-year sentence in a corruption case.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir presided over the rally that began after Friday prayers, in front of the party's central office at Nayapaltan, bdnews24.com reported.

Leaders and workers with banners and portraits of Khaleda and the party's acting chairman Tarique Rahman rallied from Fakirapool to Kakrail's Nightingale intersection.

Separate rallies were simultaneously arranged across the country for the same demand, according to BNP's Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

On February 8, a special court found Khaleda, who is also facing several other cases of corruption, violence and sedition, guilty of fraud amounting to $200,000 through a foundation she created to finance an orphanage.

The BNP has been demanding her release and treatment in the United Hospital in the city, claiming that Khaleda is seriously ill. The last time the party held a rally in the capital was on January 5, 2016 with Khaleda as the chief guest.

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