Zia, Hasina yards away in jail

BANGLADESH: Bangladesh’s jailed former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has been kept just yards away from her archrival, Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, in the makeshift prison at the Parliament Complex here and has been extended the same facilities as her, officials said.

Deputy inspector general of prisons Maj. Shamsul Haider Siddiqui said Zia, 62, did not look perturbed and was smiling as she asked the attendants for her daily requirements on Monday.

“Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia have been provided with the same facilities as per the jail code,” he said. Both the former Prime Ministers are being kept just yards away in the make-shift prison in the Parliament Complex, originally a seven-room building meant to be the residence of parliamentary Speaker.

“She (Zia) will stay in a room on the first floor of the two storied house with plenty of air and light while the facility has bee refurbished earlier with beds, a dressing table, sofa sets, ceiling fans, air conditioners, a fridge, a television set and utensils,” he said.

The two leaders were provided with seven newspapers, Maj. Siddiqui said.

Ms Hasina has been lodged in the jail since her arrest on July 16 in connection with two extortion cases. Additional police and elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion troops were mobilised to tighten security around the complex while jail authorities deployed dozens of guards and women attendants for the two leaders.

Dhaka, Wednesday, Asian Age