Khaleda to address press conference

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia would address a media conference tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon, just a day before a makeshift court is set to deliver its verdict in a case against the former prime minister.

Party’s senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told Prothom Alo that the press conference would be held at the party chairperson’s Gulshan office at 5:00pm.

Party insiders said Khaleda may give an outline as to how BNP would run in her absence if she is convicted and thus landed in jail, apart from talking about country’s current political situation.

The Special Judge’s Court-5 is scheduled to give its verdict in the Zia Orphanage Trust case on 8 February. Former prime minister Khaleda Zia, his self-exiled son Tarique Rahman and four others are accused in the case.

A number of ministers and MPs have hinted that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia would be sentenced to a certain jail term in the verdict.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has slapped a ban on all types of processions and carrying sticks and arms in the capital from the verdict day morning.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has alleged over 1,200 opposition activists were detained so far by the law enforcement across the country in the past seven days, centring on the verdict.