(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an 18 December 2002 RSF press release: Campaign for the release of Saleem Samad and Priscilla Raj, held without charge Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) today reiterated its call for the release of journalist Saleem Samad and human rights activist Priscilla Raj, who were arrested on 29 and 25 […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an 18 December 2002 RSF press release:
Campaign for the release of Saleem Samad and Priscilla Raj, held without charge
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) today reiterated its call for the release of journalist Saleem Samad and human rights activist Priscilla Raj, who were arrested on 29 and 25 November in connection with their work for European television journalists Zaiba Malik (Britain) and Bruno Sorrentino (Italy). The high court today ruled that Raj should be released on bail; however, the authorities have not yet complied with the ruling.
Raj was detained while interpreting for Malik and Sorrentino, who were working for Britain’s Channel 4. She had undergone torture during interrogation sessions, including torture by electric shock. Samad, who is a Reporters Without Borders correspondent, was working as a fixer for the European journalists. He has been held for 20 days in Dhaka prison and has been beaten during interrogation by the police and intelligence services. The two European journalists, who were also originally detained, were expelled from Bangladesh on 11 December.
Reporters Without Borders deplores the fact that the European journalists’ Bangladeshi assistants are still being detained, even though the European journalists themselves were released. “This case has already gone on too long. It should be closed, no further action should be taken and no charges should be pressed against Samad or Raj,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard said.
Since their release, Malik and Sorrentino have called for the release of their assistants. “We are very concerned that Priscilla and Saleem are still being held without charge,” Malik wrote on 13 December. “We are relieved to have been released and it makes no sense to hold on to Priscilla and Saleem any longer. We appeal to the Bangladeshi authorities to release them too, and to ensure their future safety and their families’ safety.”
More than 550 persons, including many journalists, have already signed a petition for the release of Samad and Raj, which is still available on the Reporters Without Borders website (www.rsf.org).
Bangladeshi journalist Tipu Sultan, the recent recipient of a Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) press freedom award, said this about Samad: “After having been attacked in 2001 by the men of an Awami League member of Parliament, I received the support of many people in Bangladesh, including Saleem Samad. He provided international organisations with information about the way MP Joynal Hazari’s men tried to kill me. Samad is a press freedom activist and a serious journalist. I am sure he would do nothing against our country. I call on Mrs. Khaleda Zia’s government to free him and end the threats against his family.”
Samad’s immediate family has had to go into hiding in Dhaka because the police threatened to arrest Samad’s young son, Atisha. Samad’s arrest has had a traumatic effect on Atisha at a moment when he is about to take important school exams.
Muntasir Mamun and Shahriar Kabir, both journalists and human rights activists, have also been detained by police since 8 December for having given testimony to the Channel 4 team on the political situation in Bangladesh. Kabir was tortured during interrogation and suffered a heart attack. In addition, a press freedom activist who had assisted the Channel 4 team, Mainul Islam Khan, had to flee the country for fear of being arrested.
Meanwhile, the government of Bangladesh has still not given any response to the visa request made by Reporters Without Borders’ secretary-general on 4 December. The embassy of Bangladesh in Paris has said it could take “several weeks.”
A petition for the release of Samad and Raj can be found and signed at www.rsf.org
