The metropolitan magistrate court has denied bail prayer of Nusraat Faria and sent the popular actress to prison. She was taken to the court Monday morning.
Dhaka metropolitan magistrate Nasreen Akhter denied her bail petition and has sent her to prison. On behalf of Vatara police station, investigation officer (IO) SI Mohammad Billal Bhuiyan requested the court to keep her in prison while Nusraat’s lawyer pleaded for bail. Public prosecutor opposed the bail. After hearing the judge decided to send her to prison. The judge also set 22nd May as bail hearing date.
Chief public prosecutor (PP) at Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court, Omar Faruq Faruqi has confirmed the news.
Nusraat was detained at the immigration checkpoint of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka while she was boarding for travel to Thailand.
According to police, Nusrat and 16 other actors have been named in a case filed over the attempted murder of a student, Enamul Hoque, during the Anti-discrimination movement in Dhaka’s Vatara area. After being detained at the airport by police, Nusrat Faria was handed over to the office of the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
Renowned British journalist David Bergman in a Facebook post on Monday commented on Nusrat’s arrest saying , “The arrest of actress Nusraat Faria who portrayed former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a film marks a deeply troubling moment.”
“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, I think, reached the point where such individuals can no longer feel safe in Bangladesh—where arbitrary arrest on baseless charges becomes a legitimate fear,” he added. .
“The country’s new civil society seems indifferent to due process and fairness—focused instead on vengeance and score-settling,” he added.
He also said, there is no major political force left to champion basic human rights.
“This is not justice. It is retribution dressed up as accountability. And it should alarm anyone who believes in the rule of law—no matter where they stand politically,” he concluded.
In 2023, Nusraat Faria had portrayed the role of deposed former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the biographical film Mujib: The Making of a Nation, based on the life of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The film was a joint production between Bangladesh and India, directed by maestro filmmaker Shyam Benegal.