Police submit final report in case against journalist Rozina 

The police have submitted the final report in the case filed under the penal code and the official secrets against Prothom Alo special correspondent Rozina Islam. 

The report was submitted to the chief metropolitan magistrate (CMM) court in Dhaka in the first week of July, but this came to light only recently.

The police sought exemption of journalist Rozina from the charges as they found no evidence to the allegations brought against her.

Ehsanul Haque Samaji, Rozina Islam's lawyer , said he heard that the investigation officer (IO) had submitted the final report on the basis of evidence. The court may agree or disagree with the report. 

“As the IO has already submitted the final report, it is our prayer that the court will order exemption of journalist Rozina Islam from the case after going through the report and other prosecution documents, in the interest of justice.” he added.

Meanwhile, UK-based human rights organisation Article 19 appreciated the development and expressed optimism that the court will ensure justice to Rozina.

Rozina Islam was confined and assaulted for around six hours at the secretariat when she was on professional duty on 17 May 2021.  Later, she was handed over to the Shahbagh police station around 8:30pm on the day. 

A case was filed against her immediately around 11:45pm and she was shown arrested in the case. After languishing in jail for a week, she was released on bail on 23 May.

Last year, Free Press Unlimited conferred the Free Press Award on Rozina in the "Most Resilient Journalist Award 2021" category at The Hague.