Cultural Affairs Advisor Mostofa Sarwar Farooki has said, the arrest of actress Nusrat Faria has become an embarrassing event. The prime focus of the incumbent government is to bring the perpetrator of July massacre to book.
Actress Nusrat Faria was arrested by immigration police at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Sunday while attempting to travel to Thailand.
She was detained at the immigration checkpoint due to an arrest warrant issued in connection with a case filed at Vatara Police Station.
The case, filed during the July uprising, accused her of attempted murder. On Monday, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court in Dhaka ordered that she be sent to jail.
In response to her arrest Farooki posted a statement on Facebook at 11:12 AM today. The post reads as follows:
“I generally try not to comment on matters beyond my ministry. But I have a personal identity as well—I come from this very industry and will soon return to it. Nusrat Faria’s arrest has been an embarrassing incident for us.
The duty of our government is to bring the real perpetrators of the July events to justice.
When it comes to mass-arrest cases, our position has been clear: no one should be detained without initial evidence of involvement. That principle has, until now, been followed.
The case against Faria has been pending for a while, and to my knowledge, there had been no initiative from the government to arrest her before the investigation concluded. But the arrest suddenly happened at the airport.
This may have stemmed from an overreaction following the public backlash around former President Abdul Hamid being stopped from traveling abroad. Just a few days ago, a similar incident happened with Barrister Andaleeve Partha’s wife. Such incidents are unacceptable.
I believe Faria will receive legal redress. And I hope we will handle such sweeping cases with greater sensitivity in the future. We must remember that our primary responsibility is to ensure justice for those truly responsible for the events of July.”
