Khadija sits for examination shortly after release from jail

Khadijatul Kubra, a student of Jagannath University (JnU) who was released from Kashimpur central jail securing bail in two DSA cases on Monday (November 20, 2023) morning, sat for an examination shortly after her release. 

Khadija was released from Kashimpur Women‍‍`s Prison at 9 am on Monday and went directly to Jagannath University to take part in the semester final exam. 

Although the exam started at 10 o‍‍`clock, she entered the hall at 11:30 am. She sat the exam in the fourth semester with two semesters lost.

Her elder sister Sirajum Monira said, "We came to the prison early in the morning. Then Khadija was released at 9 am. Khadija‍‍`s semester final exam starts today that‍‍`s why we came early in the morning."

Earlier, Khadija secured bail last Thursday. The bail order reached the jail authorities on Sunday evening. 

Despite waiting a long time on Sunday, her relatives had to return without her because she was not given the permission to release.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday upheld a High Court (HC) order that granted bail her in two cases under the Digital Security Act (DSA) in 2020.

In October 2020, police filed two cases against Khadija and retired Maj Delowar Hossain at the Kalabagan and New Market Police Stations for ‍‍`spreading anti-government propaganda and harming Bangladesh‍‍`s reputation.‍‍`

The allegations in the two cases filed a week apart, were similar.

Police arrested Khadija on September 17, 2022. She had been in jail since then.

According to the case details, Khadija and Delowar conspired to broadcast false, fabricated, and defamatory propaganda about the Prime Minister, various government agencies, and senior state officials in order to oust the country‍‍`s legitimate administration. They were aiming to destroy communal harmony through their conspiracy by promoting enmity, hatred, and division among various communities, it said.

Khadija was 17 when the cases were filed under the Digital Security Act in 2020, but the case was filed showing her as an adult, according to her lawyer. Despite having kidney disease, Khadija‍‍`s bail petitions were repeatedly denied by a Dhaka court.

On February 23 this year, Khadija was granted bail by the HC in the cases. The state filed a petition challenging the bail.

On July 10 of the year, the Appellate Division suspended the bail of Kubra for four months in two cases.

During the hearing, Khadija‍‍`s lawyer Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua argued that she was not accountable for the opinions expressed by guests in videos on her YouTube channel.