Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
The jail authorities have released Prothom Alo reporter Samsuzzaman Shams hours after he received bail in a case under the Digital Security Act.
Subhash Kumar Ghosh, senior assistant superintendent of Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj, said they freed Shams after the bail order reached the prison on Monday evening.
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Noor granted Shams bail until police submit their investigation report. He set the bond for Shams at Tk 20,000 on Monday.
Earlier on Mar 30, a Dhaka court sent Shams to jail after turning down his bail petition.
Shams was detained from his home in Savar early on Mar 29 by men identifying themselves as CID personnel. He faces two digital security cases – one filed by a Jubo League leader and the other by a lawyer.
The case filed by lawyer Moshiur Malek accuses the reporter of publishing and disseminating information that was “false, misleading, and defamatory to the nation”.
The case also names Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman for ‘ordering’ the report and an unnamed cameraman for ‘assisting’ it.
The High Court granted Matiur Rahman anticipatory bail for six weeks in the case filed by a lawyer on Sunday.
Shsms is also accused in a case on similar charges at Tejgaon Police Station. Apurbo Hasan, chief of Tejgaon Police Station, said they did not arrest Shams in the case.
On Mar 26, the newspaper used a picture of a child to promote an article online. However, a quote used in the social media photo card was by a day labourer named Zakir Hossain, not the child. The discrepancy was corrected and it was later republished. The headline of the original report was also modified.
The report came under fire and the two cases under the Digital Security Act were filed over the article.