CPJ urges to drop charges against journo Rana, investigate harassment of 5 Lalmonirhat corrs

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent non-profit organisation based in New York, has called on authorities in Bangladesh to dismiss all charges against journalist Md Shofiuzzaman Rana and to probe into the harassment encountered by five journalists in the northern Lalmonirhat district.

Shofiuzzaman Rana, who works for the Desh Rupantor, was detained for a week following his arrest on 5 March at a local government office in the Sherpur district. His arrest ensued after filing a right to information (RTI) application concerning a government development program. 

The arrest and subsequent sentencing to six months in prison, allegedly for disobeying a public servant's order and insulting a woman's modesty, were conducted later that day via a mobile court of an assistant land commissioner, who is also an executive magistrate.

Mohammad Ali Arafat, the state minister for information and broadcasting, declared that the country's information commission would investigate the incident. He told CPJ he would receive a copy of the commission's investigative report on 18 March.

Despite assurances, State Minister Arafat did not immediately respond to CPJ's subsequent requests for comment on the report's findings. 

Mustafa Mamun, acting editor of Desh Rupantor, told CPJ that he had yet to receive a copy of the report as of 20 March.

In a separate incident on 14 March, Mahfuz Sazu, a Mytv and The Daily Observer correspondent, was detained by employees at an assistant land commissioner's office in Lalmonirhat while filming a land dispute hearing allegedly conducted by unauthorised officials, according to news reports, Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media, and CPJ source.

Four members of the Lalmonirhat Press Club, who came to Sazu's aid, were also confined within the premises. The journalists were eventually released after the arrival of a district revenue commissioner.

On Wednesday (20 March), CPJ's Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi said, "CPJ welcomes a government investigation into the retaliatory jailing of Bangladeshi journalist Md Shofiuzzaman Rana. Journalists should not face reprisal merely for seeking information,."

"Authorities should launch a transparent probe into the confinement of five correspondents in a government office in Lalmonirhat and ensure that journalists are not harassed with impunity," he added.