Dhaka, Sep 20 (IANS): The Bangladesh government has extended the suspension of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's jail sentence for another six months.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan made the announcement on Sunday, saying that she can receive treatment at home but cannot leave the country during this period, reports Xinhua news agency.

The decision came as the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief's family has long been seeking permission from the government to allow her to go abroad for better treatment.

On humanitarian grounds following the Covid-19 outbreak in the country, the Bangladesh government decided in March last year to release Zia from jail for six months which has been extended several times.

Zia left the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) in the capital Dhaka on March 25, 2020, where she was being treated.

She was shifted to the BSMMU in April 2018 when she fell ill and had remained there.

The BNP supremo has been in jail since February 8, 2018 over the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.

On October 10, 2019, her sentence got extended by five more years after her lawyer appealed against the lower court order.

Meanwhile, in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case, she was sentenced to seven years as a special court convicted her on October 27,2019.

Right now, the former Prime mInister has at least 36 cases ongoing against her.