Dhaka: A court here today granted bail to veteran journalist Shafik Rehman in a case lodged for allegedly plotting to abduct and murder ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy in the USA in 2015. Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Zakir Hossain passed the order, allowing bail to Rehman on the condition of filing an appeal in the case. A discharge petition was also filed for Shafik Rehman at the time, which the court accepted while stating it would hear the plea later. According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mahbubul Haque on September 30 withdrew the arrest warrant issued against Shafik Rehman after he surrendered before the court. This action followed a decision by the Home Ministry on September 22, which suspended Rehman's sentence for a year on the condition of his surrender and filing an appeal against his conviction. Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Nur on August 17, 2023, convicted and sentenced five individua ls, including Shafik Rehman and daily Amar Desh Editor Mahmudur Rahman, to seven years in prison in connection with the case. The other individuals convicted are Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha (Jasas) vice-president Mohammad Ullah Mamun, his son Rizvi Ahmed Caesar, and Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, an expatriate businessman residing in the USA. The case was initially filed by police on August 3, 2015, at the Paltan Police Station, with a charge sheet submitted on February 19, 2018, against the five defendants. A total of 12 witnesses, including Sajeeb Wazed Joy, testified over different hearing dates in the course of the trial.
