A Dhaka court on Tuesday once again sent former caretaker government adviser and senior lawyer Mainul Hosein to jail after scrapping his bail in a defamation case filed by journalist Masuda Bhatti.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Tofazzal Hossain passed the order as the former adviser to the last military-backed caretaker government surrendered before the court and pleaded for bail.
Masuda filed the case against Mainul on October 21, 2018, as he called her a person of loose morals on a live television talk show as the journalist raised question on his suspicious political moves.
Mainul was arrested earlier on October 22, 2018 regarding the incident and came out of jail after securing bail from the High Court on the night of January 27, 2019.
On January 13,2019 the High Court granted bail to Mainul Hosein in 14 defamation cases for six months.
On January 27, the Appellate Division upheld the High Court order granting bail to him, paving the way for his release.
A team of Detective Branch of police arrested Mainul from in front of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal president ASM Abdur Rob’’s Uttara home on October 22, 2018 in a defamation case filed in Rangpur.
Later, 22 cases — one under the Digital Security Act and 21 for defamation — were filed against Mainul for defaming journalist Masuda Bhatti in a television talk-show.
Mainul who was connected to a talk-show ‘Ekattar Journal’ through videoconferencing aired on Ekattar Television hosted by Mithila Farzana made an ‘offensive comment’ against Masuda on October 16, 2018.
During the talk-show, Masuda Bhatti asked Mainul, ‘You say that you’re in the Jatiya Oikya Front as a citizen of the country but in social networking sites, many people are saying that you’re there as a representative of Jamaat.’
Angered at the comment, Mainul said, ‘I’m thanking you for your audacity and I want to believe you as ‘characterless’. There’s no question about Jamaat link’s with me and what question you have asked is embarrassing for me.’
