Release senior ailing leaders

The BNP called upon the government on Sunday to immediately release the party's senior and ailing leaders now in jail to ensure their medical treatment.
"We call upon the government to release our party leaders through legal procedures for their better treatment," Asaduzzaman Ripon, international affairs secretary of BNP, told the journalists at a press briefing at the party's central office in the city.  
"Health condition of our acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other leaders is not good. We hope the government will release them on the humanitarian ground," said Mr Ripon, who is also the party's spokesperson now.   
He said the leaders would not escape, if they are granted bail. They would stay in the country and continue politics by following the legal procedures.  
"At present there is no movement, no hartal and no blockade in the country. There is no political pressure on the government."
The government should give space to the opposition for the sake of democracy, and the failure to create democratic environment would not be good for the government, he added.