Bangladesh
Rozina Islam Arrest Rozina Islam arrest: Journalists protest outside Shahbag police station
Dhaka, May 19: Journalists and media workers have announced a voluntary imprisonment program in protest of Prothom Alo senior journalist Rozina Islam's arrest and harassment. On Tuesday (May 18) afternoon, investigative journalists from various media outlets protested outside the Shahbagh Police Station demanding their arrests.
They said the allegations against Rozina Islam could be made against any investigative journalist. This is because investigative journalists expose corruption through the collection of secret documents in the public interest.
The journalists who appeared at the police station with the application for imprisonment are: Badruddoza Babu, Milton Anwar, Mohim Mizan, Parvez Reza, Munjurul Karim, Abdullah Tuhin, Khan Muhammad Rumel, Apurba Alauddin, Abdullah Al Imran, Nayan Aditya, Muktadir Rashid Romeo, S M Nuruzzaman, Shahnaz Sharmin, Kawsar Soheli etc.
Shahbagh Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mamunur Rashid was not immediately available for comment. It has been learned that if anyone wants to be imprisoned voluntarily considering the surrounding situation, the concerned police station can send the person to jail after completing the proper legal process. As was the case with BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia's housemaid Fatima, who voluntarily went with Khaleda Zia to the central jail on Nazimuddin Road in the capital.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Hindu Parishad has demanded the unconditional release of Rozina Islam, a senior reporter of Prothom Alo, from mental and physical harassment and the case against her.
This was stated in a notification signed by the general secretary of the organization Sajan Kumar Mishra on Tuesday (May 18).
"The unjust detention and physical and mental harassment of Rozina Islam, a senior reporter of Prothom Alo, while collecting news, is an ominous sign in the entire national life," the statement said.
