Inu, Menon granted first bail since Aug 2024

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Haq Inu and Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon have been granted bail for the first time since their detention in August 2024.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Raunak Jahan Taki on Tuesday allowed bail for the two former ministers in a defamation case following submissions by their legal teams. 

Defence lawyer Mohammad Salim confirmed that this marks the first instance of bail secured by either leader since their detention last year.

The same court also granted bail to AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, a former Appellate Division judge of the Supreme Court, in the same case.

The defamation case was filed on August 22, 2024, by pro BNP lawyer Ziaul Haque over alleged derogatory remarks about former president Ziaur Rahman. 

The court had earlier instructed the Police Bureau of Investigation to conduct an inquiry and submit a report, which has since been filed.

According to case documents, Inu at a seminar on February 15, 2021, reportedly said that Ziaur Rahman was not a freedom fighter but an infiltrator during the Liberation War. 

The complaint also cites statements made by Inu and Menon at separate events on July 19, 2013, which were described as objectionable. 

The case further alleges that defamatory comments were made about members of the Zia family on multiple occasions.

Inu was arrested on August 26, 2024, from a relative’s residence in Uttara, while Menon was detained on August 22 from the Gulshan area of Dhaka. 

Manik was arrested a day later on August 23 while allegedly attempting to cross into India through the Dona border in Kanaighat, Sylhet.

Defence sources said Inu is currently facing more than 100 cases related to the July Uprising, while Menon is accused in several dozen cases filed after the same events.