A Dhaka court has granted bail to Prothom Alo reporter Rozina Islam in a case filed under the antiquated Official Secrets Act on charges of “stealing” government documents.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Baki Billah, who presided over the hearing of the case, granted the bail on Sunday. The bail decision that came six days after her arrest drew cheers on social media from a wider spectrum of journalists and rights activists.
Rozina received the bail on two conditions: a Tk 5,000 bond and the surrender of her passport, reports bdnews24.com.
As the hearing was conducted in a virtual court, Rozina was at the Kashimpur jail in Gazipur during the session.
On May 17, Rozina was confined to a room of the Secretariat’s Health Services Division for more than five hours over allegations of spiriting away important government documents and taking photos of the papers.
Rozina denied any wrongdoing. Her colleagues said she might have been targeted because of her reports on alleged irregularities in the health ministry amid the coronavirus pandemic. Her family also complained that she was physically harassed while being held at the Secretariat.
On May 18, a Dhaka court turned down a police plea to interrogate Rozina in their custody.
Rozina’s petition for bail was first heard by the court on May 20. The court deferred its decision on the bail to Sunday after the prosecution and defence disagreed on the addition of new evidence to the first information report, a police document that sets criminal justice in motion.
The arrest of Rozina drew condemnation from media activists and rights organisations. The Human Rights Watch said the detention of Rozina was a “major strike against media freedom”.
The Committee to Protect Journalists called for her release, while a spokesperson for the UN secretary-general expressed concern.