Official Secrets Act case: Police seeks exemption of Journalist Rozina
The hearing on the final report of the case will be held on 15 November, says a police official at CMM court
Detective Branch (DB) of police did not find any truth in the case filed under "The Official Secrets Act" against journalist Rozina Islam, special correspondent of daily Prothom Alo for "attempted theft" of government documents.
As such, DB Police Inspector Morshed Alam Khan, investigating officer (IO) of the case, submitted the final report to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court, seeking her exemption from the case.
The matter was revealed on Wednesday, although the IO of the case filed the report on 4 July, relieving Rozina from the charges.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Sub-inspector (SI) Nizamuddin Fakir, general recording officer at the CMM court, confirmed the matter to the media.
He said the final report of this case will be heard on 15 November.
On 17 May, 2021, journalist Rozina Islam went to the Ministry of Health to do her job. She was detained and harassed there for more than five hours.
At one point she fell ill. She was brought from the secretariat to Shahbagh police station around 9 pm and a case was filed against her under the Official Secrets Act that night.
The next day she was sent to jail in the case. Journalists protested nationwide, demanding her release.
Rozina got bail and walked out of jail six days after her arrest.
Deputy Secretary of the Health Department, Shibbir Ahmed Osmani filed the case under sections 397 and 411 of penal code and section 3/5 of the Official Secrets Act, making Rozina the lone accused.
Complaints were brought against her for removing and capturing photos of government documents.
