Staff Reporter :Ministers of the ruling government have said that renowned journalist and pro-BNP intellectual Shafik Rehman was arrested on ‘specific allegations’. Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu and Law Minister Anisul Haque on Sunday categorically said that Shafik Rehman was arrested ‘on specific charges, not for his work as a journalist’.The announcement of ministers came a day after Rehman was arrested from his residence at Eskaton in Dhaka for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to ‘kidnap and kill’ Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the Prime Minister’s son and ICT advisor, in the US.Not only that, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, has also echoed the same and commented that journalist Shafik Rehman has been arrested for his alleged involvement in a plot to kidnap and kill him in the US.”No one is above the law. Police produced him [Shafik] before the court because they were satisfied with findings from primary investigation which links him to specific crimes. He has the right to self-defence. He will walk free if he is innocent,” said Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu on Sunday.Referring to other arrests, Inu said, “Shafik Rehman, Shawkat Mahmud and Mahmudur Rahman were not arrested for their journalism. Rather, they are behind bars on various charges. This has nothing to do with newspapers, media or the rule of law.” Clarifying the government’s stance, Law Minister Anisul Haque on Saturday said that Shafik Rehman was arrested in a specific case.”The case is under investigation. He will be punished, once he is found guilty in investigation. Otherwise, he must be freed,” the Law Minister said after attending opening ceremony of District Registrars at Judicial Administration Training Institute.”But if the allegation against him [Rehman] is proved, the trial proceedings will run against him,” he said.Meanwhile, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, in a Facebook post, said there was evidence against the BNP-leaning journalist which links him to a plot to abduct and kill him in the US.”Our Government arrested a senior ‘journalist’ and opposition BNP leader Shafik Rehman for his involvement in a plot to kidnap and kill me in the US,” he wrote on his official Facebook page on Saturday night.”A US BNP leader’s son, a former FBI agent and another American friend of both are already serving time in US prison for involvement in this plot,” Joy also said his post.In the beginning of his post, Joy wrote, “How often do you actually get someone trying to kill you? In my case, apparently more often than even I am aware of, it’s not because I’m a criminal or even a bad guy. It just so happens that my mother is in politics in Bangladesh and I help her from time to time.””It is also because our opposition party is of a particularly violent criminal bent and is allied with the largest fundamentalist party in the country with direct ties to ISIS,” he added.On Saturday, Detective Branch of Police arrested senior journalist from his Eskaton residence. Later, the court granted five-day remand for him. The case was filed by DB Inspector Fazlur Rahman with Paltan Police Station in August last year. The case statement said some top leaders of the BNP and its allies met in the UK, the US and the JASAS office in the city’s Paltan and other parts of the country before September 2012 and conspired to abduct and kill Joy.”Shafik Rehman was arrested as the investigators found his involvement in the plot to kill Joy,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Maruf Hossain Sardar said.BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has condemned the journalist’s arrest saying the government was misusing its authority.Not only that, Ganajagaran Mancha spokesperson Imran H Sarkar also came out in protest saying Shafik Rehman’s arrest meant to stifle opposition voices.
