Award-winning photographer and Rohingya refugee Abul Kalam has been granted bail and is likely to walk out of jail on Tuesday.
A senior Judicial Magistrate Court in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, granted him bail on Monday, according to court documents.
“The bail was granted by the court on Monday. As per procedure, the camp chairman of the respective camp where he resides needs to come to the jail to sign the documents on his release, which was not done on Monday,” Shafiur Rahman, a journalist and a documentary filmmaker, told Dhaka Tribune.
“We expect that the documents signed by the camp chairman will be handed over to the jail authorities on Tuesday, and then he will walk out of jail,” he added.
Also read: 33 prominent figures, organizations call for release of photographer Abul Kalam
Abul Kalam was detained on December 29 when he set out to take photographs of buses leaving the Kutupalong camps for Bhashan Char.
Under Bangladesh’s laws, a person in custody must be produced in court within 24 hours of being taken under arrest, but that was not the procedure followed in Abul Kalam’s case.
The Senior Judicial Magistrate Court in Ukhiya on Thursday sent him to Cox's Bazar jail and he was produced in court on Monday, six days after he was arrested.
He was shown arrested in a case filed with Ukhiya Police Station on June 1 in which Kalam was accused of assaulting public servants and obstructing them from discharging their duties.
Abul Kalam, 35, has been a refugee himself for 28 years. He originally came from Borgozbil, Maungdaw, Myanmar. He is a prolific photographer and has documented refugee life in recent years.
His images have appeared in many publications, and he recently won two prizes in the Rohingya Photography Competition.
