Staff Reporter :
A senior journalist of Prothom Alo, Rozina Islam, has been sent to jail by a Dhaka court after being harassed and assaulted by some officials of the Health Ministry at the Secretariat. The incident has sparked a storm of protest and condemnation at home and abroad.
The journalist and human rights organizations feel that this incident is a big threat to the freedom of press. The organizations demanded immediate release of the journalist.
Journalists on Tuesday boycotted a press conference arranged by the Health Ministry and 14 journalists of different media houses submitted an application to the Officer in Charge of Shahbagh Police Station to accept voluntary imprisonment as part of their protest against the harassment of Rozina Islam.
Rozina Islam was confined and assaulted on Monday in an office room of the Health Ministry at the Secretariat for more than five hours over an allegation of ‘trying to steal’ confidential government documents.
Some of the arrogant officials of the Ministry abused her mentally and physically during the confinement at the Secretariat office room. Some video clips of the torturing also went viral through social medias.
Finally she was handed over to Shahbagh Police Station at night and a case was filed against her under Official Secrets Act and some other sections of the Bangladesh Penal Code. Dr Md Shibbir Ahmed Osmani, a Deputy Secretary of the health services division under the ministry of health and family welfare, is the petitioner of the case.
Rozina went to the health ministry in the Secretariat around 3:30pm on Monday to do her professional duties. She was confined in a room of the ministry and her mobile phone was confiscated. At one stage, she fell sick there, reports Prothom Alo.
Rozina Islam denied allegations of removing any documents from that office. I’m being wronged for my reports on Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said Rozina in presence of journalists while being taken to jail after the court rejected a remand plea of police.
Shahbagh police kept Rozina in police custody on Monday night and produced her in court on the Tuesday morning. Inspector of Shahbagh Police Station Arifur Rahman Sardar and also the investigation officer of the case placed a five-day remand prayer in the court.
After hearing the parties, Judge of the Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Dhaka, Mohammad Jashim, sent the journalist to jail after rejecting the remand prayer filed by police in the case filed against her under Bangladesh Penal Code and Official Secrets Act.
However, the court has adjourned the hearing till Thursday on the bail petition filed by Rozina in the case. That means she will be detained in jail until the next court appearance. The court also fixed July 15 to submit the investigation report in the court over the incident.
The court said, “We do not have the practice of canceling remand and giving bail on the same day. You can seek bail on the next hearing day.” Then the judge after consulting with the lawyers concerned fixed Thursday as the next hearing date.
Lawyers Ehsanul Haque Somaji, Ashraf Ul Alam and Prashanta Kumar Karmakar stood for Rozina in the court. Ain O Salish Kendra’s lawyer Abdur Rashid, BLAST’s lawyer Moshiur Rahman and lawyer Suman Kumar Roy also took part in the hearing. Metropolitan public prosecutor Abdullah Abu represented the state in the hearing.
Ehsanul Haque said, “The allegation that has been stated in the case is false and baseless. The reports which have been published are not top secret, rather those are open secret. But she was mentally and physically abused in the name of arrest.”
During the hearing, he highlighted various interpretations of the law and various decisions of the High Court on remand.
Lawyer Prashanta Kumar said Rozina Islam was taken to the Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur and the court directed the jail authorities to give treatment to her as per the jail code.
