Prothom Alo reporter Rozina freed from jail after six days

Journalist Rozina Islam has been released from jail on bail six days after she was arrested in a case filed under the antiquated Official Secrets Act on charges of “stealing” government documents.

Rozina, a senior reporter of Prothom Alo, left the Kashimpur jail in Gazipur around 4:15 pm on Sunday.

Media personnel present at the scene could not speak to Rozina as police tightened security.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Baki Billah granted her bail on Sunday on two conditions - a Tk 5,000 bond and the surrender of her passport.

Journalists from various media outlets rushed to Kashimpur jail with banners and flowers to receive Rozina after learning of her pending release.

Rozina’s family reached the jail in the afternoon.

Jail authorities freed Rozina in accordance with formalities once the bail document reached them. None of them, however, spoke to the media regarding the issue.

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.