A Dhaka court on Thursday asked the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to submit the probe report on May 21 in a case filed against Prothom Alo Senior Reporter Rozina Islam under the Official Secrets Act and penal code.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court Judge Mohammad Asaduzzaman Noor fixed the fresh date as PBI's investigation officer of the case, failed to submit the report before the court on Thursday.
On July 4, 2022, Investigation Officer Morshed Hossain Khan, also an inspector of the Detective Branch of police submitted the final report to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka, praying to relieve Rozina of the charges.
In the final report, the investigator said no evidence was found against Rozina and the case was an instance of factual error.
Earlier, the 42-year-old Rozina Islam was kept confined and allegedly harassed in a room of the Health Ministry for more than five hours before being handed over to police on May 17, 2021.
She was later sued by the ministry under the Official Secrets Act and sections 379 and 411 of The Penal Code on a complaint filed by the Health Services Division at Shahbagh police station.
On May 17, 2021, filed the case against the journalist with Shahbagh police station over allegations of stealing and capturing photos of highly sensitive government documents.
Various organizations including national and international human rights bodies, journalists' organizations and political parties condemned the incident and demanded her immediate release and probe into the harassments she faced.
