Dhaka:
A top Bangladesh reporter essential of the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic was released on bail on Sunday and vowed to “continue my journalism”, following her detention sparked days of nationwide protests.
Rozina Islam, 42, an investigative journalist for the country’s biggest Bengali every day Prothom Alo, was arrested by police Monday below the Official Secrets Act.
She was later charged with stealing well being ministry documents.
Islam was granted bail following becoming ordered to surrender her passport and spend a bail bond of 5,000 taka ($60) by the chief metropolitan magistrate of the capital Dhaka, her lawyer told reporters.
The passport submission was to avert her from leaving the nation, he mentioned.
Islam was greeted by her family and fellow journalists when she was released from a women’s jail on the outskirts of Dhaka.
“I will continue my journalism. I thank everyone including the journalists who stood by me,” she told reporters just before heading to a hospital for a healthcare verify-up.
Her brother Mohammad Selim told AFP Islam had been unwell just before she was taken into custody. He did not disclose why she was ill.
Journalist unions and advocacy groups mentioned Islam was detained for her stories, which integrated allegations that urgently necessary healthcare gear was left at Dhaka airport for months, and that bribes had been provided to recruit physicians.
Before her formal detention, Islam had spent 5 hours at the well being ministry, according to a ministry complaint seen by AFP.
Her detention triggered nationwide protests by thousands of journalists as effectively as political and civil rights activists.
Rights groups say a crackdown on the media has grown for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.
The basic secretary of Bangladesh’s National Press Club welcomed the court’s selection but known as for the case against Islam to be dropped.
“She has been asked to submit her passport, which is a curb on her freedom of movement,” Elias Khan told AFP.
“We have demanded that all the cases against her are withdrawn immediately… Bangladesh journalists still operate in a climate of fear.”
Bangladesh has reported almost 800,000 coronavirus infections and more than 12,300 deaths so far, but professionals say the actual numbers are most likely to be substantially larger.
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