Khadijatul Kubra, a female student of political science at Jagannath University (JnU) who had been in jail for the last 14 months, was released from Kashimpur Central Women’s Jail in Gazipur on Monday (November 20, 2023).
She walked out of jail at about 9:00am after securing bail in two cases filed under the abolished Digital Security Act (DSA).
Khadija attended the examination just after her release. After being released, she came directly to the university campus to attend her semester final exam.
Chairman of the Department of Political Science Mejbah-ul-Alam Saudagar said that Khadija has participated in the second year second semester final exam. Since Khadija got bail, there is no problem for her to continue academic studies for now. She will be able to appear in class-examinations, he added.
Khadija’s elder sister Sirajum Monira said, “The prison authority called us in the morning and told us that Khadija will be released if we go there. Later, she got discharged at about 9:00 am.”
Nearly 15 months after she was detained, Khadija had finally received bail from the apex court. Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday (November 16) upheld a High Court’s order that granted her bail in the two separate cases.
Earlier in February, the High Court granted Khadija’s bail plea, but it was suspended by the chamber judge and sent for Appellate Division’s review. The leave to appeal filed by the state challenging her bail order was also sent for hearing to the regular bench of the Appellate Division.
Meanwhile, Khadija filed an application seeking the withdrawal of the suspension order given by the Chamber Court, which was heard in the Appellate Division on July 10 along with the state’s petition. On that day, the Appellate Division stayed the hearing of the application for four months.
In October 2020, the two cases were filed under the Digital Security Act against Khadija and retired Major Delwar Hossain with the Kalabagan and New Market police stations for spreading anti-government propaganda and harming Bangladesh’s reputation.
Police arrested Khadija on September 17 in 2022. She had been imprisoned since then.
According to the case statement, 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, but the case was filed showing her as an adult. Despite having kidney disease, Khadija’s bail petitions were repeatedly denied by a Dhaka court.
