Cases against Rozina Islam, Mahmudur Rahman Manna to be withdrawn: Law Adviser

The interim government’s Law Adviser, Prof Asif Nazrul, said on Wednesday that the cases filed against journalist Rozina Islam and Nagorik Oikya President Mahmudur Rahman Manna will be withdrawn.

The adviser made the statement during a press briefing at the Secretariat in Dhaka, where he also confirmed that Rozina Islam’s passport has been returned to her.

Rozina Islam, a Prothom Alo journalist, was detained in May 2021 after a health ministry official accused her of photographing official documents within the ministry’s Secretariat. As part of her bail conditions, she was required to surrender her passport.

In January 2022, a Dhaka court temporarily allowed the return of her passport for six months. However, Rozina faced repeated bureaucratic hurdles when she appealed to have her passport permanently returned, especially when she intended to travel abroad. These challenges significantly hampered her ability to exercise her basic rights. Most recently, in August 2023, the court refused to return her passport, preventing her from attending the Global Investigative Journalism Network conference in Sweden, scheduled for September.

Mahmudur Rahman Manna was arrested on February 24, 2015, by law enforcement officers in Dhaka, following the leak of two audio clips in which he was heard conversing with then-BNP leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka and another unidentified person. Manna was later released on bail on December 18, 2016, in the sedition case.