Court orders release of woman detained in Savar over ‘Joy Bangla slogan’
Staff Correspondent
A Dhaka court has ordered the release of Tahmina Akhter, who was detained allegedly for shouting the “Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu” slogan while paying homage at the National Memorial in Savar with her three children on Independence Day.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Afroza Sultana passed the order on Wednesday, after Abdul Muktalib, sub-inspector (SI) of Dhaka District Police (North) Detective Branch, submitted a report, said prosecution police.
“No complaint was found against her,” the report says.
Defence lawyer Jahangir Alam said his client would be on Thursday.
According to the report, Tahmina is the wife of an expatriate and the mother of three daughters, and she lives in Dhaka.
“On Mar 26, an unknown person posing as an Awami League activist tricked her into shouting the slogan among others as she placed floral wreaths at the memorial on behalf of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her party,” it adds.
The individual did that to circulate photos of the woman on social media, the report says.
Tahmina went there “without having proper knowledge” of the country’s existing political situation, the SI mentioned, adding: “She is not involved in politics.
“It initially appears that she is not involved in any anti-state or subversive activities.”
Detectives detained Tahmina along with her children near the memorial fountain around 11:30am on Independence Day.
The next day, her bail application was rejected under Section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and she was sent to jail.
Her bail plea was also rejected again on Monday

