There is no legal provision to send BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia abroad for medical treatment, Law Minister Anisul Huq said on Sunday (23 June).
"Khaleda Zia's jail sentence has been suspended under an executive order based on a specific law. This law does not allow for sending her abroad," said the minister while responding to journalists' questions after inaugurating a training course for senior assistant judges at the Judicial Administration Training Institute (JATI) in Dhaka.
He said, "To my knowledge, a process has been initiated to place a pacemaker on Khaleda Zia as part of her cardiovascular treatment. We have not received any application for sending her abroad."
The minister said Khaleda Zia was released from jail on 25 March 2020, after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina suspended her jail sentence on humanitarian grounds through an executive order.
In response to another question, he said there is no need to formulate a new law for collecting wealth statements from government officials.
He explained that the existing provision requires government officials to submit their wealth statements at the entry stage of their service and update them periodically.
However, the law minister urged journalists to be cautious about maligning any honest officials.
JATI's Director General Justice Hasan Foez Siddique presided over the function, where Law and Justice Division Secretary Md. Golam Sarwar also spoke.