Bangladesh
Rozina Islam Prothom Alo journalist Rozina charged under Official Secrets Act, in jail
Dhaka, May 18: Rozina Islam, a senior reporter of Prothom Alo, was harassed and arrested at the secretariat while collecting news.
The journalist, who works in the health beat, went to the health ministry to perform her professional duties and was detained for six hours in the room of the health secretary's PS. Later she was taken to Shahbagh police station.
She was arrested after a case was filed against her under the Theft and Official Secrets Act at midnight. When she was produced in court on Tuesday, her bail application was rejected and she was sent to jail.
Journalists were outraged by the incident and demanded the immediate release of Rozina.
In recent times, Rozina Islam has been reporting on corruption and mismanagement in the Ministry of Health. Among them were reports of corruption in recruitment.
According to the complaint, Rozina Islam, senior reporter of Prothom Alo, went to the secretariat on Monday to perform her professional duties like other days. She was stopped when she was about to leave the room of the the private secretary to the health secretary. Officials claimed that she had taken important documents of the secretariat.
From then on, the secretariat staff kept her in a room of the health ministry. On Monday afternoon, Rozina was detained in the room of Md. Saiful Islam Bhuiyan, Private Secretary to the Secretary, Department of Health Services, and was kept there for about 6 hours. Later, the police took her to Shahbagh police station around 8:30 pm. Later, Shibbir Ahmed, deputy secretary of the health department, filed a complaint against her.
The court rejected the remand application of Rozina Islam, a senior reporter of Daily Prothom Alo, and sent her to jail in a case filed under the 'Theft and Official Secrets' Act. She was then taken in a prison van to the Kashimpur Central Women's Jail in Gazipur.
Shahbagh Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Arifur Rahman Sardar, who is investigating the case, produced him in court on Tuesday (May 18) morning and applied for a five-day remand. On the other hand, her lawyer Prashant Kumar Karmakar applied for her bail. Following the hearing, the judge rejected her remand application and set Thursday for a bail hearing.
Managing Secretary Sajjad Sharif spoke on behalf of the company in front of the police station after a case was filed against Rozina Islam.
He said Rozina Islam had been reporting on corruption and mismanagement in the ministry in recent times. Among them were reports of recruitment corruption. "We think she may have been the victim of the ministry's aggression."
