Ershad still in jail despite court order

Widespread speculation that ex-president H.M. Ershad would be released from jail yesterday came to nought as he was detained for another 30 days. "The deputy commissioner office sent the order of detention," the jailer of the Dhaka Central Jail, Farman Ali, told Gulf News over the phone.

Asked about the grounds for detention, he said the jail authority had only received the orders, and that the detailed papers would reach soon. The detention order reached the jail when the authorities were examining the papers relating to the payment of his fines in the Janata Tower corruption case.

On Wednesday, the second additional district and sessions judge's court asked the jail authorities to set Ershad free after his counsel, Khandokar Mahboob Hossain, filed a petition, along with a treasury receipt showing a deposit with Bangladesh Bank, seeking the immediate release of the Jatiya Party chief.

The amount is half the money he was fined by the High Court in the Janata Tower case. Confirming his conviction in the case by the lower court, the High Court last year commuted his jail term to five years and the fine to Tk50.5 million. Ershad had already served five years in jail before his release on bail in 1997 but went to jail again last November 20 for failure to pay the fines.