Emi gets HC bail over March 7 speech case

The High Court on Thursday granted bail to former Dhaka University Shamsunnahar Hall Students’ Union vice-president Sheikh Tasnim Afroz Emi in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act over the playing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic March 7 speech.

A bench of the High Court comprising Justice KM Zahid Sarwar and Justice Sheikh Abu Taher passed the order on April 30. Lawyer Motahar Hossain Saju appeared for the accused during the hearing.

According to the case statement, the incident took place on March 7 around 9:30pm when Emi and others gathered in front of Shahbagh Police Station and announced a programme to broadcast the speech. They later played it using a microphone from a rickshaw.

At that time, a group of Dhaka University students, including DUCSU leaders AB Zubair and Mosaddek Ali Ibne Mohammad and Jatiya Chhatra Shakti convener Tahmid Al Modassir, allegedly obstructed the programme.

The case further states that at one point, Emi and another person were allegedly taken into Shahbagh Police Station along with the rickshaw, following which police detained them.

The next day, they were shown arrested in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act and subsequently sent to jail after police initiated legal proceedings.