New Delhi: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international organisation that promotes global press freedom, requested Bangladesh’s Law Minister Anisul Huq Tuesday to drop legal charges against journalist Rozina Islam.
On 17 May, Islam, an award-winning investigative journalist and senior reporter of leading Bangla newspaper Prothom Alo, was detained by health ministry officials for allegedly clicking a picture of a document with her mobile phone without permission. She was later arrested by the police under the Official Secrets Act and then granted bail.
“This is pure harassment, and it needs to stop. We urge you to drop the charges against Islam and return her documents and devices immediately. The government of Bangladesh should not be creating obstacles for journalists who are merely doing their jobs,” wrote Steven Butler, Asia Program Coordinator at CPJ.
In its letter to the Bangladesh government, CPJ called the Official Secrets Act “inappropriate” and an “extremely disproportionate legal remedy”. The 1923 law allows for up to 14 years’ jail time or death penalty upon conviction.
The Bangladesh government is yet to respond to the statement.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had also reacted to reports of Islam’s arrest in May and said that journalists should be free to do their work “free of harassment or physical threat”.
During the pandemic, Islam published several reports exposing the Bangladesh health ministry’s alleged malpractices.
These reports included how urgent medical equipment was left at Dhaka airport for months, bribes were being offered to recruit doctors and alleged corruption in the procurement of supplies in the health ministry.
In the past, Islam has won the UNESCO Prize (2011) and Canadian Awards for Excellence in Bangladeshi Journalism (2011) for her work in the field of journalism.
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Govt probing bank accounts of 12 journalists
Following its letter to the Bangladesh Law Minister, the CPJ also criticised the country’s authorities for ordering banks to disclose information on Islam and 11 other journalists.
“Bangladesh authorities must immediately drop their investigations into the bank accounts of 12 members of the press and commit to allowing the media to operate freely and independently,” CPJ said.
According to a report in New Age Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), a government body that investigates money laundering and terror financing, ordered 61 banks to provide details of all accounts associated with Islam in August.
These 61 banks are controlled by the government-owned Central Bank of Bangladesh.
On 16 September, BFIU ordered banks to provide ‘know-your-customer’ forms and bank transaction details of 11 other journalists as well, reported The Daily Star.
(Edited by Rachel John)
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