Barrister Shakila released on bail

Nearly 10 months after her arrest in a case over alleged terror financing, High Court lawyer Barrister Shakila Farzana was released on bail from jail today.

Shakila was freed from Chittagong Central Jail around 5:30pm after the documents and papers related to her bail order reached the jail authorities, said Senior Jail Super Iqbal Kabir Chowdhury.

On Sunday, the Supreme Court upheld the bail granted to Barrister Shakila Farzana by the High Court in the case over terror financing.

Earlier on February 22, the HC granted bail to Barrister Shakila in the terror financing case until the framing of charges against her.

On August 18, 2015, members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested three lawyers, including Shakila and Hasanuzzaman Liton, on charge of financing militant outfit Sahed Hamza Brigade (SHB) from Dhanmondi area of the city.

They were shown arrested in a case filed in connection with arms recovery from Latmoni hill in Banshkhali upazila on February 21.

The two associated lawyers -- Hasanuzzaman Liton and Mahfuz Chowdhury Papon -- of Shakila were released on bail on December 15 last year.

Shakila Farzana, 39, is a practicing lawyer at the High Court Division of the SC.

She is the joint general secretary of the Supreme Court unit of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum, a pro-BNP lawyers’ body.

Daughter of Syed Wahidul Alam, a former BNP whip and lawmaker from Chittagong during 2001-06 tenure, Shakila is also a member of the Dhaka District Bar Association and the SC Bar Association.