Khadijatul Kubra

Case Summary

The case of a university student, Khadijatul Kubra is one of the most discussed cases among the cases filed under the Digital Security Act. Two cases have been filed against her. The first case was filed at the New Market Police station at Dhaka and the charge sheet of that case showed Khadija’s age as 19 years whereas she was only 17 years old at the time of her arrest. Khadija was arrested on 27 August 2022 and she was in Jail Custody for 15 months only for moderating a webinar on social media.

The Charge sheet submitted against her alleging that she had spread fake information and propaganda along with an attempt to incite people to overthrow the legitimate government. Her academic life was halted due to the imprisonment and she claims that she had to stay in a condemned cell for a certain time with death row inmates. She was deprived of treatment though she was a patient of kidney stones.

Case Details

On 27 August 2022, Saturday at 9:30 pm, Khadijatul Kubra, a student of the 2019-20 academic year of the Department of Political Science of Jagannath University (JnU), was arrested from her residence in Mirpur by the police of Newmarket Police Station, Dhaka. According to the FIR, on 11 October 2020, Sub-Inspector Khairul Islam of New Market Police Station filed a case under Sections 25/29/31/35 of the Digital Security Act 2018 accusing Khadija and one Delwar (another accused of this case) of tarnishing the country’s image by spreading anti-government statements online. She was 17 years old when the case was filed under the DSA in 2020 where she was falsely portrayed as an adult. Another accused Major Delwar of this case is still absconding.

Background

According to the Complaint Letter, a video titled ‘Humanity for Bangladesh’ moderated by Khadijatul Kubra in a social media talk, where one retired army Major namely Delwar Hossain attended as a participant. It is alleged that, in his presentation, Delwar provided various instructions to overthrow the legitimate democratic government of Bangladesh. The FIR also added that they were engaged in efforts to confuse audiences about the existing stable situation of the country by uploading these videos on their YouTube channels and personal Facebook pages. They have tried to incite the common people of the country against the present democratic government and involve them in anti-government activities by spreading false informative talks on YouTube and Facebook. Therefore, the accused ones have committed offenses under Sections 25/29/31/35 of the Digital Security Act 2018.

Remand

No remand.

Bail

Advocate Jyotirmoy Barua filed an application for bail on behalf of Khadija in this case. According to Mr. Barua and court documents, Khadija’s bail plea was rejected twice by the Judicial court. Later she applied for bail in the High Court and the High Court Bench comprising of Mr. Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Mr. Justice Md. Aminul Islam granted her bail on 16 February 2023. Thereafter the prosecution (State) filed a petition against that bail order. The Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division stayed the order of bail passed by the High Court and sent the matter to the full bench of the Appellate Division for hearing. In the meanwhile, Khadija filed an application for vacating the order of stay passed by the Chamber Judge. Both the petitions filed by the State and by Khadija were heard together before the Appellate Division on 10 July 2023. The Appellate Division adjourned (Stand Over) the hearing of the applications for four months from the date.

On 16 November 2023, 6 Judges’ Bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan dismissed petitions filed by the state against the High Court’s bail order and upheld the bail granted by the High Court. Assistant Attorney General M Saiful Alam presented the petition on behalf of the state and Advocate B M Elias submitted it on behalf of Khadija.

The bail order was reached at the Central Jail on 19 November 2023. Khadija was not released immediately, rather the jail authority delayed her release for no specific reasons. Her family members waited the whole day for her release. On 20 November 2023, Khadija was released from Kashimpur Central Women’s Jail.

The Appellate Division directed the prosecution on 20 November 2023, seeking explanation why Khadijatul Kubra was not released quickly after availing the bail order. Khadija’s lawyer Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua brought the matter to the attention of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and the court passed such order.

Charge sheet

DB Police Inspector Mazharul Islam was the Investigation Officer (IO) of the two cases and the statements of the two cases are also similar. On 28 April 2022, the investigation of the case of New Market Police Station concluded, and on 16 May 2022, the investigating officer submitted the charge sheet. In the charge sheet, moderator Khadija and participant Major Delwar of the social media talk were alleged to have tried to create confusion about the existing stable situation of the country by uploading videos on their YouTube channels and personal Facebook pages. The Charge Sheet also alleges that they tried to incite the common people of the country against the present democratic government by spreading their false talk show on YouTube, and Facebook and involving them in anti-government activities. Besides, they tried to create an unstable environment in the country by creating anti-government attitudes by spreading provocative statements. At the same time, they damaged the image of Bangladesh in the outside world. They had been carrying out fabricated, false, defamatory propaganda against the country’s prime minister, various government agencies, and important state officials with the intention of overthrowing the legitimate government of Bangladesh through conspiracy. They were trying to create enmity and hatred among different communities through such conspiracies and were carrying out activities to destroy communal harmony. Therefore, the accused were alleged for committing offenses under Sections 25/29/31/35 of the Digital Security Act, 2018. The Cyber Tribunal accepted the charge sheet of the case on 16 May 2022.

Chronology of Legal Proceedings

1st Hearing : 28 August 2022. Bail Hearing. The bail was denied and Khadija was sent to jail.2nd Hearing : 15 September 2022. Application for Bail Hearing. The bail was denied.3rd Hearing : 16 February 2023. Application for Bail Hearing. The High Court granted the bail and the Chamber Judge upheld the High Court’s order.4th Hearing : 10 July 2023. Application for Bail Hearing. The Appeal Division adjourned (stand over) the hearing for four months.5th Hearing : 16 November 2023. Application for Bail Hearing. The bail was granted.

Accused’s Statement

As Khadija was in jail when this report was written, it was not possible to take her statement. Khadija’s sister Monira shared her experiences and said in her statement “We were completely shocked to hear the news. None of us knew that there were cases filed against her. The police came to our house in Mirpur at 9:30 pm and took her away”. Monira also added that “Khadija was 17 years old when the case was filed. In that case, the matter of the cases should have been informed to her parents. But the police did not do that.” She further stated that “Khadija was diagnosed with kidney stones and in that condition, she is spending days in jail without any treatment. She was in jail custody at the Kashimpur Central Women’s Jail for more than one year. From 22 March to 27 March 2023, she was kept in a condemned cell reserved for death row inmates, for which her family members were worried about that”.

The Senior Jail Super claimed that Khadija was kept in that cell for her bad behavior and that it was not a condemned cell but rather a punishment cell. According to Khadija’s sister Monira, Khadija cannot misbehave with anyone. She also added that she did not have any behavioral issues with anyone in jail, but suddenly there were rumors of her misbehaving which is fictitious. “My Sister who is still young has been in prison for eight months, her mental state should be understood”, she further added in her statement. Monira declined to be interviewed for a second time being afraid that her contacts with and statements in media and other entities would cause a delay in Khadija’s release.

On 19 November 2023, Monira alleged while talking to a media that the jail authority was delaying Khadija’s release deliberately. When she asked about the reason for the delay, the authority explained that Khadija’s cases need more investigation to release her from jail based on the court order and they were waiting for clearance from other agencies and the police.

After getting released, Khadija claimed in media that she had to spend 15 months in jail without doing any crime. She declined to talk citing her current state of mind due to the long ordeal.

In the matter of the delay in the release, Khadija’s lawyer Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua said, “Khadija should have been released as soon as the bail order reached the jail. She has been wrongfully detained for a long time. It is a clear contempt of the court.”

Current Status of the Accused

After one year and three months, on 20 November 2023, at 9 AM Khadija was released from Kashimpur Central Women’s Jail. She was unable to appear for two semesters of exams as she was in jail for the past 15 months. As of writing this report, Khadija was attending her semester final examination after getting released from jail. Her case is now under trial.