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Hundreds of reporters demanded the release of a veteran journalist who was formally arrested Tuesday under the Official Secrets Act, on suspicion of photographing without permission documents related to the government’s purchase of COVID-19 vaccines from China and Russia.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque said the documents for the vaccine deals had non-disclosure clauses, but a lawyer for arrested journalist Rozina Islam accused the ministry of targeting her because of her recent reports that exposed alleged graft in the public health system.
“The [health] ministry officials filed the case against Rozina to get revenge as she wrote several reports on the corruption of the ministry officials,” said Ehsanul Haque Somaji, the attorney for Islam and her employer, Prothom Alo, one of Bangladesh’s most popular daily newspapers.
A screen shot taken from Prothom Alo s YouTube channel of Bangladeshi journalists protesting the arrest of the paper s correspondent, Rozina Islam, in Dhaka on May 17, 2021.
NEW YORK, May 18 2021 - The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Bangladeshi authorities to immediately release journalist Rozina Islam, withdraw the investigation into her, and to stop arresting journalists under the Official Secrets Act.
Islam, a senior correspondent for the daily newspaper
Prothom Alo, was arrested today after the Health Ministry filed a complaint against her under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, according to news reports. She was accused of taking pictures of official documents under sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, and under sections 379 and 411 of the penal code, and could face up to 14 years in prison and the death penalty if charged and convicted, according to the laws. Islam is being held at the Shahbagh police station in Dhaka, the capital, Sajjad Sh
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Bangladesh arrests journalist known for unearthing graft
Julhas Alam
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Bangladeshi journalist Rozina Islam, center, is escorted by police to a court in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, May 18, 2021. Police in Bangladesh s capital have arrested the prominent journalist on charges of stealing and photographing sensitive state information. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
DHAKA – A journalist in Bangladesh known for her strong reporting on official corruption was arrested on charges of violating a colonial-era official secrets act which carries a possible death penalty, authorities said Tuesday.
Rozina Islam, a senior reporter for the leading Prothom Alo newspaper, allegedly used her cellphone without permission to photograph documents related to government negotiations to buy coronavirus vaccines while she waited in the room of an official involved in the process, according to case documents seen by The Associated Press.