The High Court (HC) has extended the bails of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in two defamation cases against her.
The cases were filed in Dhaka and Narail over the BNP chief’s ‘derogatory remarks’ on freedom fighters and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The bench of Justice Muhammad Abdul Hafiz and Justice Mohi Uddin Shamim issued the order after hearing a bail petition filed by Khaleda’s lawyers on Tuesday, as per a bdnews24.com report.
Among the lawyers for Khaleda, AJ Mohammad Ali, Kaiser Kamal and Foyez Jibran were present.
The HC had granted six months’ bail in each of the defamation cases in last year’s August, said Kaiser Kamal, one of the lawyers for the BNP chief.
The new bail pleadings were made after the terms of the previous bails had passed, he added.
The HC granted Khaleda six-month bail in the defamation case filed in Narail on Aug 13.
She received bail on similar charges filed in Dhaka on Aug 14.
The government had filed the petitions with the Supreme Court seeking a freeze on HC bail orders.
The chamber judge transferred the petitions to the Appellate Division for a hearing. The apex court later rejected the petitions after the hearing on last year’s Oct 1.
The former prime minister has been serving a five-year jail term since Feb 8 in the Zia Orphanage Trust case, and was named as an arrestee in other cases.
