Journalist Rozina Islam gets bail
Lawyers expect she will walk out of jail today
Prothom Alo's Senior Reporter Rozina Islam got bail today after staying behind the bars for six days in a case filed by Health Ministry official under the Official Secrets Act 1923.
A Dhaka court granted the bail on a bond of Tk5,000 and has also asked to submit her passport to prevent her from travelling abroad.
The court urged all parties involved to come together for the greater good of the state keeping aside all disputes.
During today's hearing, the court said that the media is one of the parts of democracy. Country's other institutions behave responsibly because of media.
The courts and the media act as complements of each other, not a barrier.
"The court has given a verbal order today. Hopefully we will get the written order soon after which the official procedure will follow. If there is no issues with the official formalities of the jail authorities, Rozina will come out of prison today," said her lawyer Ehsanul Haque Shomaji.
Investigative journalist Rozina, known for dozens of ground-breaking reports in her career, was kept confined at the health ministry for more than six hours on 17 May on allegations of taking snapshots of some government documents. Later she was handed over to police.
Rozina Islam was shown arrested in the case on charges of spiriting away "important" documents on the same night.
Police produced her before the court the following day seeking 5-day remand. Rejecting remand plea, Metropolitan Magistrate Baki Billah fixed 20 May for hearing on Rozina's bail plea.
On that day, Rozina was sent to jail following court order.
The hearing on the bail petition of journalist Rozina was held on last Thursday. Lawyers from both sides virtually took part in the nearly hour-long hearing. However, the court did not give any immediate decision on that day. The court fixed Sunday for order on her bail plea.
Rozina Islam is known for her strong reportage of official corruption. She has recently made several investigative reports revealing corruptions in the health sector.
