Mahmudur Rahman Granted Bail

The court has granted bail to Mahmudur Rahman, the former acting editor of the newspaper Amar Desh, who was convicted in a case involving the abduction and murder conspiracy of Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the son of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Today (3 October) Thursday, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge As Sams Jaglul Hossain's court approved his bail.

Tanvir Ahmed Al Amin, Mahmudur Rahman’s lawyer, stated, "We have filed an appeal against Mahmudur Rahman's conviction today. The court accepted the appeal, and after we requested bail, the court granted it."

Earlier, on Sunday (September 29), Mahmudur Rahman surrendered in Dhaka's Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mahbubul Haque's court, seeking bail on appeal. After a hearing, the judge rejected the bail request and ordered his imprisonment.

On August 17, 2023, Dhaka's Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Noor sentenced Mahmudur Rahman to seven years in prison. The court sentenced five individuals, including journalist Shafik Rehman and Mahmudur Rahman, to seven years of imprisonment. They were given five years under one section of the law and two years under another.

The other convicted individuals include Mohammad Ullah Mamun, Vice-President of the Nationalist Social Cultural Organization (JASAS), his son Rizvi Ahmed alias Caesar, and US-based businessman Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan.

The court sentenced the accused to five years in prison and a fine of 5,000 taka for the abduction attempt. In default of payment, they will face an additional one month of imprisonment. For conspiracy to commit murder, they were sentenced to two years in prison and another 5,000 taka fine, with an additional one-month sentence for non-payment. The court ruled that the sentences under the two charges would run concurrently.

According to the case details, from a time before September 2011, high-ranking leaders of the BNP and its allies, including Mohammad Ullah Mamun, the Vice-President of JASAS, conspired at various locations including JASAS' Paltan office in Dhaka, New York, the UK, and elsewhere in Bangladesh to abduct and murder Sajeeb Wazed Joy in the United States.

On August 3, 2015, former Detective Branch Inspector Fazlur Rahman filed the case at the Paltan Model Police Station.

On February 19, 2018, the police submitted a charge sheet against five individuals, including journalist Shafik Rehman. The court recorded the testimonies of 12 witnesses, including Sajeeb Wazed Joy, in this case.