Former minister Dipu Moni has sought to withdraw her bail application in a crimes against humanity case, saying she no longer feels an urgency to return home following the death of her husband, Tawfique Nawaz.

Dipu Moni, who has been in jail for two years, made the request after being produced before International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Thursday.

The tribunal had been scheduled to hear her bail application, which was filed in April so she could be with her ailing husband.

Before the hearing began, Dipu Moni asked for permission to address the three-member tribunal headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder.

“I have been imprisoned for two years. My bail application was filed in April. Now I don’t want bail. I want to withdraw my bail application,” she said from the dock.

Dipu Moni then referred to an earlier bail hearing when, according to her, the tribunal had asked what she would do if she went home.

“Now I no longer need to go home. My husband, Tawfiq Nawaz, had been bedridden for seven years. He couldn’t speak. When we spoke to him, he would respond by blinking his eyes,” she said.

The former minister said she had cared for her husband while holding public office for five years.

She added that after she was imprisoned, her husband had to leave their home and spend two years at an undisclosed location.

“He could not accept that life,” she said.

Tawfiqe died on the night of Aug 18.

Dipu Moni said her husband had been admitted to hospital four months earlier after his condition deteriorated, prompting her lawyer to apply for bail on Apr 26.

“I applied for bail then so I could go to him. I couldn’t be beside my partner of 39 years during his final days,” she told the tribunal.

“Now my need to go home is gone. Who would I go back to? My children want me to seek bail. But I’m no longer in a rush to go home.”

After hearing her remarks, the tribunal said it was deeply saddened and acknowledged the reasoning behind her request, but said it had other matters to consider.

It then set Sept 17 as the next date for the bail hearing.