bdnews24.com :
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu has dubbed Probir Sikdar episode ‘unfortunate’ even as LGRD Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain claimed they were left with ‘no other choice but to arrest the journalist’.
Inu on Tuesday said Sikdar’s arrest would not hamper the freedom of media. “We’ll make sure he (Sikdar) is not denied legal rights,” he told reporters. The journalist was detained on Sunday night and was shown arrested in a case filed under the ICT Act for
defaming Minister Hossain on Facebook, triggering a backlash in the social media. Hossain, an MP from Faridpur, is the father-in-law to the daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Rights activists say the move is a ‘misuse’ of the Act.
A Faridpur court has granted police three days to interrogate Sikdar. “I know Probir Sikdar personally. He is close to me,” Inu said adding he had helped him the last time he was in trouble.
“His arrest is unfortunate,” the minister said. Police allegedly refused to take a complaint by Sikdar, who said he was threatened for his Facebook posts. On August 10, he talked about the alleged intimidation in his Facebook posting and blamed LGRD Minister Hossain, controversial business tycoon Moosa bin Shamser and death-row war criminal Bachchu Razakar for the threat to his life.
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu has dubbed Probir Sikdar episode ‘unfortunate’ even as LGRD Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain claimed they were left with ‘no other choice but to arrest the journalist’.
Inu on Tuesday said Sikdar’s arrest would not hamper the freedom of media. “We’ll make sure he (Sikdar) is not denied legal rights,” he told reporters. The journalist was detained on Sunday night and was shown arrested in a case filed under the ICT Act for
defaming Minister Hossain on Facebook, triggering a backlash in the social media. Hossain, an MP from Faridpur, is the father-in-law to the daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Rights activists say the move is a ‘misuse’ of the Act.
A Faridpur court has granted police three days to interrogate Sikdar. “I know Probir Sikdar personally. He is close to me,” Inu said adding he had helped him the last time he was in trouble.
“His arrest is unfortunate,” the minister said. Police allegedly refused to take a complaint by Sikdar, who said he was threatened for his Facebook posts. On August 10, he talked about the alleged intimidation in his Facebook posting and blamed LGRD Minister Hossain, controversial business tycoon Moosa bin Shamser and death-row war criminal Bachchu Razakar for the threat to his life.
