Dipu Moni, education minister of the now-ousted Awami League government, was released from Munshiganj District Jail on a 12-hour parole early Thursday morning after the death of her husband, Senior Advocate Tawfique Nawaz. The party’s activities are currently banned.

Moni left the jail in a prison van under police guard at around 6 am and then set out for the Kalabagan area of Dhaka. She is due to remain free until 6 pm the same day, accompanied by law-enforcement personnel.

Nawaz, an Oxbridge-educated senior advocate of the Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court, passed away at 10:27 pm on Tuesday at Continental Hospital, formerly known as United Hospital, according to Abdullah Al Muhid, a customer care executive at the hospital.

Moni’s daughter, Tani Deepavali, met her in jail on Wednesday and then applied to the Munshiganj district administration for four days’ parole. The administration approved 12 hours instead.

Gazi Faisal, a lawyer for Dipu Moni, said she would go to Kalabagan, where Nawaz’s body was to be kept. Arrangements had been made for funeral prayers at Gulshan Azad Mosque, followed by burial at Banani graveyard.

Dipu Moni has been held in Munshiganj District Jail as an accused in multiple cases over killings during the July mass uprising. She was arrested on August 19, 2024, from the Baridhara DOHS area, after the Awami League government fell when Sheikh Hasina fled the country on August 5.