Journalist Probir Sikdar, sued in a libel case over a Facebook status about LGRD Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, was released on bail yesterday afternoon.
Police produced Probir in court 48 hours before the expiry of his remand, saying they had no objection to his bail.
Judge Hamidul Islam of Faridpur First Cognisance Court granted bail yesterday, a day after he turned down the same plea and sent Probir on three days’ remand.
Probir was picked up by the Detective Branch (DB) of police on the evening of August 16 and taken to DB headquarters on Mintoo Road in the capital.
Advocate Ali Ashraf Nannu, a BNP-backed lawyer, submitted the bail prayer to the court yesterday morning.
The court granted bail until the next hearing in the case on September 22 against a Tk5,000 bail bond, Nannu told the Dhaka Tribune.
Following the bail order, Probir was taken to Faridpur District Jail and was released around 1:45pm after the bail documents reached the prison. Activists of the local BNP and its associate organisations were seen waiting at the prison gate with garlands to greet the journalist on his release.
Probir’s wife Anita Sikdar told the Dhaka Tribune that they would first visit their ancestral village in Kanaipur and then travel to Dhaka.
Probir thanked journalists, rights organisations and professional bodies for their role in hastening his release.
“I express my gratitude to Bangladesh’s journalists and professionals, to Gonojagoron Moncho and to blogger organisations for their commitment ... the way they took to the streets for my release,” he said.
Probir was sued on August 16 under the ICT Act for comments made on social media about LGRD Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain.
On August 17, he was taken to Faridpur because lawyer Swapan Paul filed a case with Kotwali police station accusing him of posting a defamatory status against the LGRD minister.
On August 12, Probir, editor of online news portal Uttoradhikar 71 News, in a Facebook post wrote that several gangs had been kept ready in Dhaka and Faridpur to teach him a lesson. Two days later, he posted that three people – LGRD Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, business tycoon Moosa bin Shamsher and fugitive war crimes convict Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar, and their supporters – would be responsible if anything happened to him.
On July 22, Probir had attempted to file a general diary at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station over concerns for his personal security, but the police allegedly refused to take down the GD.