Staff Correspondent
But the minister holds the Prothom Alo reporter responsible for everything that happened at the secretariat
Newspaper Prothom Alo’s Senior Correspondent Rozina Islam, arrested in an Official Secrets Act case, was “not physically assaulted” inside the secretariat, Health Minister Zahid Maleque has claimed.
“Ms Islam wasn’t physically assaulted. This was an unfortunate event. But she shouldn’t have done the wrong thing that she did,” the minister told reporters after a meeting of the National Economic Council in Dhaka’s Agargaon on Tuesday.
“Her [Islam] corruption reporting did not come yesterday,” he said, adding: “What happened there [at the secretariat] was the result of things that happened that day [on Monday]. All action was taken based on that.
“Ms Islam, without telling anyone, tried to take a government file with her. She was taking pictures of them. She even entered the official’s room without permission. These are state secrets.”
Responding to a question about the video where an additional secretary of the ministry is seen grabbing Islam by the neck, the minister said: “The incident must be investigated. But I have asked her [the secretary] about it.
“She told me that Ms Islam was not physically assaulted. Rather, the journalist attacked her. When an attempt was made to stop Ms Islam after the incident, she scratched her with her nails and slapped the additional secretary.”
He said: “The claim that Ms Islam was confined inside a secretariat room for six hours is also wrong. Five to six officials of different ranks were present at the time of the incident. Police arrived within half an hour of the incident.
“The home minister was informed before me. In fact, Ms Islam was the one who was being uncooperative. No one forced her inside the room.”
However, Maleque’s assertion runs opposite to what Ms Islam and her family members have said.
They have claimed that the journalist was “assaulted” because of her reporting on corruption at the Health Ministry and she did nothing wrong.
Health Ministry officials turned Ms Islam over to police on Monday after confining her at the office of Saiful Islam Bhuiyan, the personal secretary to the Health Services Division secretary.
She was later sued under the Official Secrets Act and the Penal Code for theft and photographing of official documents.
On Tuesday, a Dhaka court turned down the police’s appeal to interrogate the senior reporter for five days.
She was later taken to the Kashimpur prison in Gazipur, where she will be kept until the next hearing of her bail petition on Thursday.
11 eminent citizens condemn assault on Rozina Islam, demand case withdrawal
Staff Correspondent
Health Ministry officials turned Rozina over to police on Monday after confining her at the Secretariat for five hours
Eleven eminent citizens of Bangladesh have condemned the assault on Prothom Alo Senior Correspondent Rozina Islam by the Health Ministry officials at the Secretariat when she was collecting information.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, they also condemned the case filed against Islam over “stealing” classified information.
“In this situation, we demand the government enquire the reason behind the incident and also identify those who assaulted Rozina Islam, and conduct an investigation on their activities,” the statement read.
“We hope that the government will be considerate to withdraw the case filed against Rozina Islam and release her from jail,” it added.
They mentioned that the public and government are working together to tackle the Covid-19 crisis in the country.
The health workers and Health Ministry are playing a significant role in this regard, the statement read.
But simultaneously, the government was embarrassed following irregularities by some employees and officials of the Health Ministry on different occasions and has taken action against them, they said.
In those cases, the government was benefitted due to investigative reports by journalists like Rozina Islam.
Cultural personality and freedom fighter Nasiruddin Yousuff, journalist and political analyst Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury, writer and historian Prof Muntassir Mamoon, writer-journalist Shahriar Kabir, media personalities Ramendu Majumdar, Hasan Azizul Haque, Anupom Sen, Sarwar Ali, Mofidul Haque, Mamunur Rashid, and Abdus Salim were the signatories of the statement.
On Tuesday, a Dhaka court turned down police’s appeal to quiz Rozina in custody for five days.
She was detained at the Secretariat office of Md Saiful Islam Bhuiyan, the personal secretary to Health Services Secretary Lokman Hossain Miah, for five hours on Monday.
She was then taken to Shahbagh Police Station around 8:30pm. Deputy Secretary of Health Services Shibbir Ahmed then filed a case against her under the Official Secrets Act.
She has been taken to the Kashimpur prison in Gazipur, where she will be detained until the next hearing of her bail petition on Thursday.
