Prothom Alo senior reporter Rozina Islam has been granted bail in a case filed under the Official Secrets Act for stealing state secrets. Bail will be ordered on Sunday. The virtual hearing began at noon on Thursday in Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court. The hearing ended around 2 o'clock. The court said an order would be issued on Sunday. Rozina's lawyer Prashant Kumar Karmakar said this.
Lawyers have been waiting in court since morning for Rozina Islam's bail hearing. Earlier on Tuesday, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Jasim rejected Rozina's remand application and fixed May 20 for a bail hearing. .
The judge denied the remand and ordered her to be sent to jail. Rozina's lawyer Prashant Kumar Karmakar said journalist Rozina Islam's earlier investigative report on corruption in the health ministry was also in the public interest.
He is a professional journalist. The section against which the case has been filed is conflicting and undesirable. Rozina Islam has a child, moreover she is physically ill. All in all, our expectation is that Rozina Islam will get bail. Meanwhile, the investigation of the case against Rozina under the Official Secrets Act has been handed over to the Detective Branch (DB) of the police on Wednesday.
Now the Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Branch will investigate the case. Rozina Islam went to the Health Ministry on Monday to perform her professional duties.
There he was kept in a room for more than 5 hours from 3 pm to 8:30 pm and was physically and mentally harassed. At one stage he fell ill. He was taken to Shahbagh police station from the secretariat around 9 pm.
Later in the night, a case was filed against Rozina under sections 379 and 411 of the Criminal Procedure Code and sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act at Shahbagh police station.
