Khaleda left with no option but to seek presidential clemency: Law minister
There is no legal avenue remaining for Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson, Khaleda Zia, to go abroad for medical treatment, said Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq on Wednesday.
"Legal matters are past and fully closed now. The only option remaining is to seek presidential clemency. If she (Khaleda Zia) acknowledges her crimes and requests pardon from the president, that’s her matter, not mine," he added.
The law minister was speaking at a press conference at the secretariat on Wednesday.
Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh and law secretary Golam Sarwar were present at the conference.
The media conference was organised over a remark of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the secretary general to the de facto opposition, BNP. Mirza Fakhrul on Tuesday said the law minister once said the government does not have the jurisdiction to postpone Khaleda Zia’s jail sentence and allow her to stay at home. But Khaleda Zia returned to her home just a few days after the remark, Fakhrul added.
The law minister said, “What he (Mirza Fakhrul) said is a lie and baseless. I never made any such statement anywhere."
He also urged the BNP secretary general to speak the truth and provide accurate information.
Later, the law minister read out a written statement. Afterwards he answers to various questions of newspersons present at the media conference.
A journalist asked whether there is any legal scope left for Khaleda Zia to go abroad for treatment. In response, the law minister said, “The prime minister has already exercised her authority. There is no further option to exert authority once again. I do not want to advise her on whether she would seek presidential clemency or not. But there is no scope left, except for seeking the mercy of the president.”
In stating that if Khaleda Zia wishes to file a mercy petition with the president, she must acknowledge her crimes, Anisul Huq emphasised that seeking presidential clemency is a constitutional right.
He insisted that Khaleda Zia can indeed seek presidential clemency if she chooses to do so.
When another journalist asked how the government facilitated travelling of convicted ASM Abdur Rab and Haji Salim abroad, the law minister said Abdur Rab was released during the military rule, not under the power of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). And Haji Salim appealed against the sentence. Following this appeal, the High Court division ordered him to surrender within the stipulated time. He returned home before that time.
Anisul Huq said No law anywhere said nothing has been said in the law about Khaleda Zia's treatment abroad.
The law minister said she was released on conditions and it was said she would not be able to go abroad.
He also noted that the issue of Khaleda Zia’s treatment abroad is not a political matter. Rather the matter is a legal issue, the law minister added.
Anisul Huq also mentioned that incumbent prime minister Sheikh Hasina did not have to take permission from anyone for going abroad as the former caretaker government did not put forth any condition for her release.