The former vice-president of Shamsunnahar Hall Union at Dhaka University, Sheikh Tasnim Afroz Emi, has been granted temporary bail by the High Court in connection with an anti-terrorism case involving the playing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s March 7 speech on a loudspeaker.
The court has also issued a rule requiring the government to justify why Emi should not be granted permanent bail in the case. The ruling was made by the HC bench comprising Justice KM Zahid Sarwar and Justice Sheikh Abu Taher in response to a bail petition filed by Emi.
According to Emi’s lawyer, Muhammad Noman Hossain, there are no legal obstacles to her release following the High Court’s decision. Emi is currently detained at Kashimpur women’s jail, and the necessary bail bond will be submitted to the lower court as per the High Court’s instructions. It is anticipated that she will be released once all formalities are completed, possibly by Sunday or Monday.
The incident in question took place on March 7, around 9:30 pm, when Emi and others broadcast the speech in front of Shahbagh Police Station. Dhaka University students, including former Ducsu leaders AB Zubayer and Mosaddek Ali Ibn Mohammad, as well as Tahmid Al Modassir, convener of Jatiya Chhatra Shakti, reportedly disrupted the event where the speech was being played through a rickshaw-mounted microphone.
Subsequently, AB Zubayer and Mosaddek Ali handed over Emi and another individual to Shahbagh Police Station. The following day, the detainees were arrested in connection with an Anti-Terrorism Act case filed by the police and were remanded to jail custody.
