Amid global criticism, Bangladesh court grants bail to actress Nusraat Faria

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s leading actress Nusraat Faria was granted bail by a Dhaka court on Tuesday in an attempted murder case of one Enamul Haque related to the July 2024 movement.

The actress who portrayed former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a film was arrested by police at the Dhaka airport on Sunday while she was on her way to Thailand.

Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court Judge Mustafizur Rahman passed the order on a bond of Taka 5000 after hearing the bail appeal, Bangladeshi media outlet UNB reported.

The judge stated that the bail on Tuesday was granted to Faria as the investigating officer submitted a report informing the court that the accused was in Canada from July 9 to August 14 last year and not in Bangladesh.

The arrest of the actress received widespread criticism from Bangladeshis all over the world with even the Cultural Affairs Advisor Sarwar Farooki terming the development as an “embarrassing incident” for the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus.

“Following the backlash over the former president Abdul Hamid’s foreign trip, there may have been an overreaction driven by nervousness. A similar incident happened a few days ago involving Barrister Andaleeve Rahman Partho’s wife. These incidents are by no means justifiable. I believe Faria will get legal remedy,” said Farooki in a social media post while expressing his concerns over the arrest.

“The government’s job is to prosecute the actual transgressors during the July Uprising. Our stated policy has been clear — no one will be arrested in broad, indiscriminate cases unless preliminary investigation establishes involvement. That policy had been followed,” he added.

Reports suggest that Enamul Haque sustained bullet wounds during the mass uprising in Dhaka’s Bhatara area on July 19. On that day, he was shot in the leg and later admitted to the hospital in an unconscious state. After recovering, he filed the case on May 3, which named 283 individuals as accused, including Hasina and 17 artists.

Faria has been listed as the 207th accused. The case also identified her as a “financial supporter” of the Awami League.

Several key members of the Bangladesh Cholochitro Shilpi Samiti, or the artistes’ association, including Ashfaque Nipun, Azmeri Haque ‘Badhon ‘, Khairul Basar, Sharaf Ahmed ‘Jibon’ Tabib Mahmud, slammed the decision taken by the “fascist Yunus administration” which, they insist, can’t be accepted.

Noted British journalist David Bergman also criticised the arrest of Faria, stating that arbitrary arrest on baseless charges has become a legitimate fear in Bangladesh under the Yunus-led interim government.

“It now appears that simply being a known supporter of the Awami League, or having close associations with the party, is enough to make one a target. We have reached the point where such individuals can no longer feel safe in Bangladesh — where arbitrary arrest on baseless charges becomes a legitimate fear,” said David Bergman.

“The interim government appears to be struggling with its moral and political direction; The country’s new civil society seem indifferent to due process and fairness — focused instead on vengeance and score-settling; And, there is no major political force left to champion basic human rights,” he added while detailing how it has taken “just nine months” to reach this “dangerous threshold.”

–IANS