We are extremely anguished that the senior reporter of Prothom Alo, Rozina Islam had to land jail while carrying out her duty. She went to the secretariat on Monday afternoon for professional purpose. The officials, instead of helping her with necessary documents, confined her for over five hours in a room of the secretariat and abused her mentally and physically. The pictures of the assault went viral on social media. Such incident of abuse cannot take place in a civilised country. Later, she was handed over to the police. The law enforcement took her to Shabagh police station saying they would take her to hospital as she fell ill. She was not allowed to speak to her family or colleagues while in police custody.
She was charged in a case filed by the health ministry under section 3 and 5 of Official Secrets Act, 1923 and under section 379 and 411 of Penal Code at around 12:00 am. Her lawyers argued in the court that the two sections, under which she has been booked, are contradictory as the place described as the crime scene was not an open space. It proves the case is concocted. Rozina Islam is a victim of vendetta. The evidences submitted in the court were not from recovered Rozina Islam. The lawyers also said, Rozina could get bail on the ground that she was ill due to mental and physician assault and that she is a mother of a little child. The court rejected her remand plea due to lack of grounds and sent her to jail. The court also scheduled bail hearing for Thursday.
The journalists of Bangladesh expressed their concerns over Rozina Islam’s confinement in the secretariat and her arrest.
The Editors’ Council, Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists, Press Club, Dhaka Reporters Unity and other journalists' organisations as well as human rights and social organisations have protested. Eminent citizens of the country have also joined the protest. Various political parties also expressed their concerns. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Amnesty International issued statements demanding her release. Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum boycotted the Health Ministry's press briefing on Tuesday. People of different classes and professions have also protested on social media.
Notably, Rozina Islam has secured her stronghold at investigative journalism. Many of her reports including the report on embezzlement in making gold crests by Liberation War Affairs Ministry created sensation. She recently published a series of reports on irregularities in the health sector that unveiled true faces of a quarter of the ministry officials. There is good reason to believe that these corrupt officials harassed her in the secretariat and filed a false case against her with fabricated allegations.
The spontaneous protests inside and outside the country over the arrest of Rozina Islam are encouraging. We congratulate the journalist community of the country for standing by Rozina and uniting for independent journalism. There is no alternative to such a position of the media workers to protect journalism and press freedom. It will be the responsibility of all of us to stand against such a blow to the freedom of speech in future.
We demand the immediate withdrawal of the case against Rozina Islam and her unconditional release.