27/03/2020 (Agence Europe) – The European Union welcomed on Friday 27 March the release of the Chairwoman of the Nationalist Party of Bangladesh and former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Begum Khaleda Zia, on 25 March. “With her health having severely deteriorated during her two years of imprisonment, we hope that Begum Khaleda Zia will now receive the necessary medical treatment”, the spokeswomen for the European External Action Service said in a statement. On the instruction of the Prime Minister, the prison sentence of Ms Khaleda Zia, 74, was suspended for six months on humanitarian grounds. The EEAS spokeswoman recalled the EU's strong support for democracy, the Rule of law, the promotion of human rights and the independence of the judiciary. She also announced the EU's readiness to assist Bangladesh in addressing the challenges posed by the coronavirus. (CG)