Dhaka: BNP will stage demonstrations across the country on Thursday demanding the release of its chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail.

The programme is also meant for mounting pressure on the government to ensure proper treatment of Khaleda.

BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the programme at a press briefing at the party’s Nayapaltan central office on Tuesday.

He said their party’s all district and metropolitan city units will demonstrate on Thursday.

Rizvi, however, said Gazipur city corporation area will remain out of purview of the demonstration programme.

Earlier on June 14, BNP submitted memorandums to deputy commissioners (DCs) across the country, including Dhaka, demanding its chairperson Khaleda Zia’s proper medical treatment and her release from jail.

Rizvi alleged that the ministers are making unguarded remarks about Khaleda’s treatment only to confuse people and obstruct her from receiving treatment at a specialised hospital.

He renewed their party’s demand for allowing the BNP chief to receive treatment at United Hospital in the capital after releasing her from jail.

On February 8, Khaleda was sent to jail after a special court sentenced her to five years’ rigorous imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.