Investigative reporter Rozina Islam was released on Sunday afternoon from jail on bail six days after she was arrested in a case filed under the Official Secrets Act on charges of “theft” of state secret documents from the Health Ministry.
A Dhaka court granted her bail on two conditions – a Tk 5,000 bond and the surrender of her passport. Rozina Islam was confined to a room at the Secretariat’s Health Services Division for more than five hours over allegations of stealing important documents and taking photos of the papers by her cellular phone.
The journalist’s family members have categorically complained that she was physically harassed and thrown on the floor while being held at the Secretariat. Several photographs and video footages have gone viral on social media platforms including Facebook, and millions at home and abroad watched them. There was an international media reaction that worried some responsible Awami League leaders.
A genuine female journalist she was treated as an ordinary criminal and humiliated as no civilised country would dare to do. Despite disunity among journalists they jointly made known their angry protests.
Many think that Rozina Islam might have been targeted because of her reports on alleged irregularities in the Health Ministry amid the coronavirus pandemic. Whatever the reason behind it, we did not witness such an act of harassment of a female journalist like an ordinary criminal by government officials before.
People at home and abroad whoever have watched the photographs in the newspapers or watched videos on television channels and social media got highly shocked seeing the physical torture and mental harassment of female journalist Rozina at the Secretariat.
Not only that, she was confined in a room of the said ministry for about six hours. Some Health Ministry officials and employees also pushed her down on the floor. At one stage, a senior official tried to strangulate her by pushing her on a couch.
What is strange is when an unknown freelance journalist was called characterless for lack of journalistic integrity under provocation of insulting for what she claimed others said.
All the Awami League women followers ganged up in protest for insulting the character of all womenfolk. They held press conferences and roadside demonstrations demanding open apology.
The leadership came from the Prime Minister herself because one has to be punished for his political opposition to election stealing. More than 22 defamation cases were filed illegally in various parts of the country. The cases filed for defamation were bailable but bail was refused. To make his life difficult he was denied division in jail to sleep on the floor. A famous woman writer who knew her closely described Ms Bhatti as the world’s worst characterless person. She did not protest.
But now those protectors of women “character” have expressed no sympathy for the young brave journalist for torture and humiliation meted out to her for honest journalism. But the inhuman treatment by the government officials was no insult for those women because no direction came from high-ups.
They should be ashamed for such inconsistency is no proof of character.
