Bangladesh former prime minister Khaleda Zia, also chairperson of the major party Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was released on bail Thursday after more than 12 months in detention, local NTV reported.
This came after she was granted bails in all four corruption cases earlier, two on Tuesday and two in late August, clearing legal barriers to her freedom on bail from prison.
Khaleda, who ruled the country twice from 1991 to 1996 and from2001 to 2006, was arrested together with her younger son Arafat Rahman Koko on Sept. 3 last year amid a purge against crime and corruption by the current caretaker government.
Koko was released on July 17 on health grounds. He is now undergoing treatment for his respiratory complications in Bangkok.
Khaleda's elder son Tarique Rahman, arrested on March 7 last year on corruption charges and facing 13 graft cases, was released on bail on Sept. 3 this year.
Tarique, suffering from spinal cord complications, has got British and German visas for going abroad for medical treatment.
Khaleda, wife of late Bangladesh former president Zia Rahman, had earlier refused to get released before the release of her two sons.
The Khaleda-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), one of two major parties in the country, also demanded that the party join political dialogue with the government and take part in the forthcoming general election only after Khaleda is freed.
Earlier, another ex-premier Sheikh Hasina, also president of another major party Awami League, was paroled on June 11 on her health grounds. She is now in the United States for treatment of her damaged ears and eyes.
The current caretaker government took office on Jan. 12 last year following a political crisis over the abortive ninth parliamentary election which was scheduled on Jan. 22 last year.
The country's Election Commission has declared the general election will be held in December this year.
Source:Xinhua
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