Case against Rozina Islam: Prominent citizens raise concerns over 'naraji' petition

Twenty prominent citizens have expressed their concern over a "naraji" petition the health ministry filed rejecting the final report in the case against Prothom Alo's special correspondent Rozina Islam.

In a statement Thursday (2 February), they said none of the sections of the Official Secrets Act of 1923, under which the ministry filed the case, could be applied to a professional journalist.

According to the statement, while performing her professional duties on 17 May 2021, journalist Rozina Islam was detained at the Secretariat, and reportedly harassed and tortured for about six hours. Later, she was handed over to Shahbagh police station. The health ministry filed a case against Rozina and she was sent to jail. After six days, she was released on bail by a court order.

According to the Official Secrets Act of 1923, taking any information over a prohibited government site or area is punishable by law.

But the health ministry is not a prohibited or secret place and there is no legal bar to journalists taking information from there for their professional work, the statement argued.

On 23 January, a Dhaka court directed the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to further investigate the case against Rozina when the plaintiff filed a "naraji" petition seven months after the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DB) submitted a final report in the case, stating that no material was found to support the allegations leveled against her.

The investigating officer then applied to exempt Rozina Islam from the case, suggesting that the charges brought against her were not proven.

Condemning the latest move, the eminent citizens said the Ministry of Health continued to harass the woman journalist while she was performing her professional duties, even after the police investigation could not prove the complaint to be true.

"We believe this behavior of the Ministry of Health is a threat to independent journalism," they said in the statement calling for a fair and impartial investigation into the matter.

The signatories include Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, Justice MA Matin, Ronak Jahan, Kazi Khalikuzzaman Ahmad, Abul Kasem Fazlul Haque, Parveen Hasan, Ramendu Majumder, Wahiduddin Mahmud, Mamunur Rashid, Mainul Islam, Syed Manjurul Islam, Abul Momen, Anu Muhammad, Rasheda K Chowdhury, Shahriar Kabir, JI Khan Panna, MM Akash, Syeda Rizwana Hassan, Sanjeev Drang, and Tanjim Uddin Khan

Journalist Rozina Islam received the Free Press Award in 2021 from the Netherlands as the "Best Indomitable Courage" and the "Anti-Corruption Champions Award 2022" of the US State Department last year.