The High Court (HC) on Tuesday extended BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s bail by one year in five cases.

Among those, three defamation cases were filed in Dhaka while one was filed in Narail district and  a murder case in Cumilla.

The HC bench of Justice Muhammad Abdul Hafiz and Justice Mohammad Ali passed the order after hearing petitions in the four defamation cases .

Besides, the HC bench of Justice AKM. Asaduzzaman and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo extended Khaleda Zia’s bail by one year in a murder case filed in Cumilla district.

Barrister Kaiser Kamal accompanied by Advocate Mohammad Kamruzzaman Mamun stood for the BNP chief.

On September 19, the government extended the suspension of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's jail sentence in two corruption cases by another six months with all the previous conditions remaining unchanged.

Read: Ailing Khaleda’s family seeks permission to send her abroad

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters that it is for the fourth time the government extended the BNP chief’s release by suspending her jail sentence in Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust graft cases.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government freed Khaleda Zia from jail for six months through an executive order suspending her sentences on March 25 last year.

The government extended her release for six more months on August 27 last year and it was extended further for another six months on March 15 last.

Read: Khaleda takes 1st dose of Covid vaccine

Khaleda Zia tested positive for Covid-19 on April 10, and she was admitted to Evercare Hospital on April 27. She received treatment there until June 19 for post-Covid complications and some other underlying health problems.

On May 5, her family applied to the government seeking permission to take her abroad for better treatment, but the government turned it down saying there is no scope for a convicted person to avail of such a scope.