(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Home Affairs Minister Mohammed Nasim, RSF asked that charges against Aminur Rahman Taj, a crime reporter with the newspaper “Ajker Kagoj”, be dropped. RSF also called for cancellation of the arrest warrant against Kazi Shahed Ahmed, the daily’s editor. Without wishing to comments on the facts of the case, […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Home Affairs Minister Mohammed Nasim, RSF asked that charges against Aminur Rahman Taj, a crime reporter with the newspaper “Ajker Kagoj”, be dropped. RSF also called for cancellation of the arrest warrant against Kazi Shahed Ahmed, the daily’s editor. Without wishing to comments on the facts of the case, the organisation reminded the minister that in a document dated 18 January 2000, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and freedom of speech had emphasised that “detention as punishment for the expression of a peaceful opinion is a grave violation of human rights.” Finally, RSF is concerned by the increasing number of threats and attacks against journalists in the country.
According to the information collected by RSF, police arrested Aminur Rahman Taj while he was on duty in the Dhaka police building on 28 May. They did not show an arrest warrant and took him directly to the police station, where he was detained for more than five hours. In the afternoon, Aminur Rahman Taj was charged under section 501 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and released on bail. According to the police, the journalist “tarnished the image of the police and two ladies of high rank.” He faces a six-year jail sentence if found guilty. The journalist had published an article on the front page denouncing the wives of a minister and of a high-ranking police officer, without naming names. According to Aminur Rahman Taj, the women were involved in “influence trafficking” and had facilitated the appointment and promotion of police officers. The next day, the daily published a reply from the police. In the same issue, Kazi Shahed Ahmed had written a column denouncing the arrest of and charges against Aminur Rahman Taj. An arrest warrant was issued against him.
Following the arrest, about a hundred journalists demonstrated outside the National Press Club. Police threatened to arrest them and charge them under the Public Safety Act.
On 23 May, activists of the ruling Awami League issued death threats against two journalists: Sheikh Mamoonur Rashid and Al Amain Shahriar, respectively reporter and correspondent with the daily “Dainik Manav Zamin”, in Bhola (in the country’s south).
