The Editors’ Council on Saturday expressed deep concern and protested at the arrest and detention of Dainik Agrajatra Pratidin acting editor Md Rejanur Islam in connection with a case filed in Bogura over a report published about local government state minister Mir Shahe Alam.
The Editors’ Council said that this incident was in complete contradiction to the commitments to press freedom and freedom of expression outlined in the BNP’s election manifesto and its 31-point state reform programme.
On Friday, detectives arrested Rejanur Islam in Joydevpur in connection with the case filed under the Cyber Security Act over a report concerning local government state minister Mir Shahe Alam.
The case was lodged in Bogura on June 17 by Md Tanvir Alam, treasurer of Bogura Press Club, on charges of defamation.
Following his arrest, the acting editor was sent to jail.
The statement, signed by Editors’ Council president Nurul Kabir and general secretary Dewan Hanif Mahmud, strongly condemned the incident and demanded the immediate release of Rejanur Islam.
The council said that any individual aggrieved by a news report, regardless of the public office they hold, has access to legal and institutional mechanisms to seek redress.
Individuals might lodge complaints with the Press Council, the legally established body responsible for adjudicating and resolving such matters, or pursue remedies in courts under existing laws.
However, in the present case, one journalist has been arrested and sent to jail over a case filed by another journalist, the statement said.
The Editors’ Council observed that similar patterns of lawsuits, arrests, and harassment of journalists over the publication of reports had been witnessed during the tenure of the Awami League regime.
‘The latest incident reflects a troubling recurrence of that practice,’ the statement reads.
According to the statement, the tendency to file criminal cases against journalists, arrest them, and send them to prison over news reports is a matter of deep concern for independent journalism and the right to freedom of expression.
The statement said that such actions would have a negative impact on the independence of newspapers and media professionals.
The council also said that incidents of this nature -- with Bangladesh currently ranked 152nd in the World Press Freedom Index -- would further accelerate the deterioration of media freedom in Bangladesh and damage image of the country in the international arena.
The Editors’ Council reiterated its demand for the immediate release of Rejanur Islam, urging the authorities to ensure that grievances against journalists were addressed through existing legal and institutional frameworks, particularly through the Press Council, instead of resorting to arrests and criminal proceedings.
Controversies have emerged surrounding state minister Shahe Alam over the naming of two new unions at Shibganj and Mokamtala upazilas of Bogura, the arrest of a newspaper’s acting editor, and reports that a school in Shibganj was being renamed after him.
Allegations have surfaced that the state minister named a newly created union in Shibganj after his ancestral residence, popularly known as ‘Mirbari’.
Critics have also alleged that the newly formed Simanta and Diganta unions under Mokamtala upazila in Bogura were named after his sons -- Mir Shakrul Alam Simanta and Mir Saklain Alam Diganta.
The naming of the two unions in the state minister’s parliamentary constituency came under criticism in the Jatiya Sangsad on June 15.
On Thursday, National Citizens Party lawmaker Atikur Rahman Mojahid, in an apparent reference to Shibganj, said that Bangladesh was moving towards a ‘Bogura first’ model, with a disproportionate share of government funds being directed to a single district.
