BNP's Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said at this moment their main goal is to save BNP chief Khaleda Zia's life.
“We want to free her and save her life and then bring her before the people of the country after she recovers. We’re going to the people and together we’ll free our leader- this is our only task now as a political party,” Fakhrul said while addressing a media briefing on Wednesday, reports bdnews24.com.
Khaleda, who is currently serving 17 years' jail term in two corruption cases, has been undergoing treatment in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital under the supervision of jail authorities since Apr 1 last year.
She should be freed or at least be granted bail on humanitarian grounds, Khaleda's sister Selima Islam told reporters after visiting her in hospital on Tuesday.
“We appeal to the authorities to free her, so that we can provide her with better treatment at least,” she said.
But it remains unclear whether Khaleda will be released on parole for medical reasons, according to Fakhrul.
“We are not aware of it (parole) as we haven’t appealed for it. We don’t even know if her family appealed for parole,” he said.
According to UNB, BNP will take out a procession in the capital on Saturday demanding its Khaleda Zia’s release from jail.
The decision was taken at a joint meeting of BNP and its associate bodies at the party’s Nayapaltan central office on Wednesday.
He said they will bring out the procession from their Nayapaltan central office at 2pm on Saturday and it will end at the Jatiya Press Club.
Asked whether they got permission from police for their planned procession, Fakhrul said, “No permission is needed for holding such a programme. We’ll only inform them about the programme.”
He called upon people to make their programme a success with their spontaneous participation.
“We urge people to take part in the procession to register their protest in a peaceful manner, and thus accelerate the process of our leaders’ (Khaleda’s) release from jail,” the BNP leader said.
Earlier on February 8, Fakhrul announced that their party would stage demonstrations across the country on Saturday to push for their demand to have Khaleda freed.
Khaleda has been in jail since she was convicted in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8, 2018. She was found guilty in another corruption case later the same year, though her party claims both cases are politically motivated.