DHAKA, 12 June 2008 — Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina Wajed was released from detention yesterday as part of an apparent political deal between her party and the army-backed government.
The leader of the Awami League party, who was held on graft charges almost a year ago, is to leave the country early today for the United States, where she will be treated for hearing problems, her secretary said.
Hasina was released for an interim period after a long legal and political battle, adding a new dimension to the country’s political scenario.
After 329 days of incarceration, she was freed at 1:50 p.m. for eight weeks till August 6 under an executive order signed by Chief Adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed on Tuesday night.
Hasina was arrested on July 16 last year in connection with a corruption case filed by businessman Azam J. Chowdhury. She was detained in a makeshift jail in the high-security Parliament complex.
Witnesses said thousands of party workers showered flower petals and shouted welcome slogans as Hasina’s car slowly moved toward Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi amid tight security.
Within hours of her release, Awami League decided to go for dialogue with the government.
A government medical board said on Sunday that she should be allowed to go abroad for medical treatment. She is suffering from high blood pressure, eye problems and a hearing impairment caused by grenade blasts at a rally in Dhaka in 2004, which killed 23 people. Although party officials said they expected Hasina to return after treatment, some fear she might not be allowed back. The interim authority blocked her return from a trip to the US early last year and backed down only after domestic protests and international pressure.
Hasina’s sister, Sheikh Rehana, told ATN-Bangla television by telephone from London that whether Hasina would remain active in politics or contest the election would be her own choice.
“My sister, her party and the people of Bangladesh will decide her future,” said Rehana.
Hasina’s chief rival for the past 15 years, a former prime minister herself and also currently detained on graft charges, Khaleda Zia, was also advised by a separate medical board last week to seek medical parole abroad — which she rejected.
Pleading for her detained sons to be allowed to travel for treatment, Khaleda told a special graft court on Tuesday that the interim government, headed by former central bank chief Fakhruddin Ahmed, was “unlawful and running the country in violation of the constitution.”
The government, originally appointed to oversee elections originally scheduled for January 2007, canceled the poll and declared emergency rule after widespread political violence.
It has since pledged to hold a free, fair and credible vote before the end of this year, but Hasina’s Awami League and Khaleda’s Bangladesh National Party have threatened a boycott unless the “battling Begums,” as the two women are known, are released and graft charges dropped.
