Khaleda to be freed today

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Detained former premier and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia walks to freedom from the high-security makeshift jail on the parliament premises today (Thursday), said a top prisons official, as she eventually got the all- clear.brWhen contacted, Inspector General (Prisons) Brigadier General Zakir Hasan told UNB Wednesday night that they had already received the release order from court Wednesday evening.brShe could not be freed as we received the release order after evening. After completion of scrutiny of the papers, she will be freed today, the IG said.brEarlier in the day, Home Affairs Adviser of the Caretaker Government MA Matin told reporters that the former premier, Khaleda Zia, would be set free when her bail bond would reach jail authorities from court. brBut, he said, all needed to go through due legal process. brWe all need to wait until all legal procedures end, Matin, a retired major general, told reporters after a meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Bangladesh Secretariat.brKhaleda Zia got the all clear in the process of her release as the High Court Tuesday granted her bail for three months in Niko and Gatco graft cases filed under the purge launched by the interim regime. brKhaleda, who faced four cases, had earlier secured interim bail in the last week of August in two other graft cases involving Zia Orphanage Trust fund embezzlement and Barapukuria Coalmine contract.brThe former premier was arrested, along with her younger son Koko, on September 3, 2007 amid a crackdown on the political arena after the January 11 changeover following a political crisis over election issues. Her elder son, Tarique Rahman, was held earlier on March 7.brBoth of her sons are already free on bail and parole for overseas treatment, apparently following a latest change of wind in the country's political scenario that sees many other detained politicians and other bigwigs walking to freedom. brMeanwhile, the government and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), after losing their legal battle for preventing Khaleda Zia from securing bail in all the four cases, filed applications with the chamber judge of the Supreme Court for stay on operation of the High Court bail orders.br