No external pressure over letting Khaleda Zia do politics: Law Minister

Law Minister Anisul Huq on Thursday said there is no external pressure over letting BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia take part in politics.

“People have the right to know the fact. I have informed the fact through you (journalists). There is no foreign pressure in this regard,” he said while talking to reporters at BISS auditorium on the government’s recent stance about Khaleda Zia’s participation in politics, reports UNB.

Earlier, the law minister spoke as the chief guest at a seminar on "Rohingya Crisis and the Emerging Security Challenges: Response Strategy of Bangladesh."

Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) organised the seminar at its auditorium.

Anisul said Khaleda was released from jail on two conditions and none of those was on her participation in politics.

Those conditions have been that she will take treatment staying at her Dhaka residence and she will not be allowed to travel abroad, he said.

There is no ‘game plan’ of the government to confuse BNP, said Anisul adding, but Khaleda’s active participation in political programmes depends on her health condition.

Earlier at an event in the capital on Sunday, the law minister said the BNP chairperson can take part in politics, but she is barred from contesting the next general election because of her conviction for corruption.

The government will not interfere in her doing politics, the minister said adding “Whether she will do politics or not, it’s her personal matter.”

“The constitution states that any person who has been sentenced to two years of imprisonment cannot participate in the elections. There is nothing new to say,” said Anisul.

The BNP leader has been convicted in a case of corruption in Zia Orphanage Trust and sentenced to 10 years in jail. In another corruption case involving Zia Charitable Trust she has been given seven years of imprisonment.

Her sentences have been suspended by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on humanitarian grounds considering her poor health following a petition by her family.