Bangladesh: CFWIJ welcomes the release of Rozina Islam and demands to drop the case against her

May 24, 2021- Rozina Islam, the award-winning investigative journalist, who was confined for five hours in the Ministry of Health office and later arrested by police, was released on bail on Sunday evening on May 23. She was freed from Kashmirpur jail after a magistrate court of Dhaka approved her bail until July 15 after undertaking a bond of 5000 Taka with two guarantors and confiscating Rozina’s passport. According to jailer Hosne Ara, Rozia was released around 4:15 pm after the jail authorities received her bail orders from the court. The health ministry filed a case against Rozina under the “Official Secrecy Act”, draconian law of 1923, that poses harsh punishments including a possible death penalty. Dhaka’s Chief Metropolitan magistrate Baki Billah who signed Rozina’s bail orders shared while narrating the document that, it is the duty of journalists to protect the image of society and state. The magistrate further said that he hopes that from now on everyone shall act responsibly. CFWIJ welcomes the journalist's release though she should not have faced detention and confinement from authorities in the very first place. Rozina is a remarkable journalist and we offer her our full support.

The award-winning journalist was confined in the Health Ministry office on May 17 for five long hours at the Bangladesh Secretariat. She was detained on accusations of stealing confidential documents and taking pictures of documents that contained sensitive information. The journalist was taken into police custody and the Health Ministry filed a case against her under the colonial-era law dated back to 1923. Rozina was shifted to jail on the orders of Dhaka court after denying the police remand request. She was being held at Kashimpur central jail. It was reported that the Ministry of Health also formed a three-member committee to look into the matter of Rozina’s detention and her subsequent arrest by the police. The committee was supposed to present its report in three days but it has not done it so far. The case against Rozina has now been transferred to the Detective Branch of the police. 

Colleagues and friends welcomed Rozina outside the jail premises with flower bouquets. “I will most certainly continue working as a journalist” Rozina shared with her supporters with a lot of conviction.

Rozina Islam who is an accomplished journalist earned her this reputation after her remarkable contributions while reporting around the Covid-19 crisis in the country. She reported several reports that exposed the Health Ministry’s mishandling of the pandemic. The journalists reported on an alleged graft at the ministry, the corruption in the doctors’ recruitment process, and how the urgently needed medical equipment for coronavirus treatment was left at Dhaka airport for months. 

Reacting to Islam’s arrest the U.N secretary general’s spokesperson, Stephen Dujarric also shared his sentiments. Stephen said that it was something concerning. A journalist needs to be able to work free of any sort of harassment or physical threat anywhere around the world. Several journalists' unions and media platforms registered their protest against Rozina's arrest and called for her release. They also demanded action against the officials who harassed the journalist and caused her this agony. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism welcomes the release of Rozina but we also demand that the case against her must be dropped and she should be completely free. We believe that authorities targeted her for her journalist's efforts and it was a case of legal harassment against the journalist. Rozina should be allowed to do her job free of any fears.