Online Desk :
The bail hearing of Journalist Rozina Islam has begun in a case filed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the Official Secrets Act and Penal Code.
Rozina Islam’s bail hearing began at 12:40 pm on Thursday at the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Baki Billa’s virtual court.
Rozina’s lawyer Prashant Kumar Karmakar and Ehsanul Haque Samaji and many others started the hearing in the court.
Earlier, the police sought a remand to Rozina Islam, a senior reporter of national daily Prothom Alo, however, the court denied the police’s petition on Tuesday, the day after her arrest.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Jasim fixed today for a bail hearing and ordered to keep her in custody. She is currently lodged in Kashimpur Women’s Central Jail in Gazipur.
Senior Reporter Rozina Islam was detained for about five-and-a-half hours in the office of a Health Services Division official at the Secretariat in the capital on Monday on charges of “attempting to steal” secrets of the state document.
Later in the night, she was handed over to Shahbagh Police Station and the Health Services Division filed a case under various sections of the Official Secrets Act and Penal Code of the British period.
Meanwhile, journalists across the country are protesting against the ‘unlawful’ arrest of Rozina Islam since Monday night. The journalist community is also protesting today, demanding her release.
The investigation into the case against Rozina was handed over to the Detective Branch (DB) of the police on Wednesday amid ongoing protests and movement. Now the Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Branch will investigate the case. The court has fixed July 15 for the submission of the investigation report in the case.
