Journalists protest outside police station, various organisations condemn incident

Journalists from different media outlets in protest against the harassment and detention of journalist Rozina Islam at Shahbagh in Dhaka on 17 May, 2021
Prothom Alo

Journalists of different media outlets are protesting the harassment of Prothom Alo’s senior correspondent Rozina Islam by confining her for five hours at the secretariat and handing her over to Shahbagh police station.

Meanwhile several organisations and leader of the journalist community have expressed their concern over the incident.

Journalists staged a protest inside the Shahbagh police station on Monday night, demanding the release of Rozina Islam.

The journalists condemned the health minister and health secretary for this incident and demanded their resignation.

Earlier, Rozina Islam went to the health ministry in the secretariat on professional purposes. There the officials of the ministry detained her in a room around 3.00 pm. At one point Rozina fell sick.

Later around 08.30pm, the senior journalist was handed over to the police of Shahbagh police station. Police took Rozina Islam to the Shahbagh police station around 9.00 pm.

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Journalists from different media outlets staged a protest in front of the secretariat at first. Later, they moved to the Shahbagh police station and chanted slogans in protest.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, M Abdullah, president of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists, said the way Rozina Islam treated is quite shameful. Journalists are concerned, agitated and flabbergasted in the incident. This is just the reflection of the rage against independent and investigative journalism and free media.

Dhaka Union of Journalists’ general secretary Sajjad Alam Khan said the government must ensure that no innocent journalist is harassed.

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based organisation working on the rights of journalists worldwide, expressed deep concern over the incident in a tweet. Rozina went to the secretariat only to carry out her professional duty. The organisation urged her immediate release. CPJ also used a photo showing Rozina lying on the floor after falling sick while in detention at the secretariat in their tweet.

Jatiya Party

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Jatiya Party chairman GM Quader has strongly condemned the detention and harassment of Rozina Islam. He said in a statement that an independent investigation is needed into the incident of harassing journalist Rozina Islam inside the ministry. The treatment meted out to her is shameful. He said it was the responsibility of the state to ensure independent journalism and safety of the journalists.

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad’s president Fawzia Moslem and general secretary Maleka Banu has protested and condemned the harassment of a female journalist while on professional duty by the officials of the health services division.

Ain o Salish Kendra

Condemning the harassment and detention of Rozina Islam, Ain o Salish Kendra said in a statement Rozina Islam has worked for ensuring people’s right to information by presenting objective news. She has shed light on several discrepancies and irregularities of the health ministry through her reports.

Apart from that, the ministry’s frailty in protecting people’s right to health during the pandemic was also evident in her reports. Without any doubt, these reports played an important role in ensuring proper governance and accountability in the health sector.

It is by no means acceptable to detain a journalist like her during her professional work. This incident would set a very bad precedent for the freedom of press and professionalism of journalists, which is completely unwarranted.