arrest of Shafik Rehman
Ministers defend move
Taleya tells British HC about husband�s arrest
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu yesterday said senior journalist Shafik Rehman was arrested on specific charges and not for his journalistic work. On the other hand, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq said Shafik Rehman would be released if he is found not guilty in investigation. Shafik Rehman was arrested on specific charges, said Inu while replying to a query of journalists after the inaugural session of the District Registrars Training Course at Judicial Administration Training Institute yesterday.
He further said Its definitely a sub-judice issue. If the charge against Shafik Rehman is proved, he will be punished while he will be freed if he is proved innocent, he added. Law Minister Anisul Huq, while mentioning the two other journalists behind bars on various charges, said, No one is above the law, we will see that in effect Mahmudur Rahman, Shawkat Mahmud or Shafik Rehman were not arrested for their journalism.
He said police produced him in court because they were satisfied with findings from primary investigation which links him to specific crimes. He has the right to self-defence. He will walk free if he is innocent. This has nothing to do with newspapers, media or the rule of law, he added.
DB police arrested Shafik Rehman from his Eskaton residence Saturday morning and later he was shown arrested in a case filed with Paltan Police Station in August last year for plotting to murder Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas son Sajeeb Wazed. The case was filed by Detective Branch of Police Inspector Fazlur Rahman.
A Dhaka court on Saturday placed him on a five-day remand in the case.
Meanwhile, Taleya Rehman, the wife Shafik Rehman, yesterday formally communicated with the British High Commission in Dhaka about the arrest of her husband and sought their assistance to ensure his is not harassed and given fair justice. She went to the British High Commission around noon and met two officials -- head of counsellor service Hasina Rahman and Emily Summers of political section at the high commission. She also submitted documents related to arrest of Shafik Rehman to them.
I went to the British High Commission to inform about the arrest of Shafik Rehman, who is also a citizen of the United Kingdom. I have requested the officials to ensure that Shafik Rehman is not harassed and subjected to injustice, she told reporters at her Eskaton residence.
She said the high commission officials assured that they would look into the matter of welfare of her husband as he is a British citizen.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan yesterday said 2-3 people from within Bangladesh were involved in the conspiracy to abduct and kill Prime Ministers son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, reports UNB.
He said this at a discussion at Bilia Auditorium of Dhanmondi in the city, marking the historic Mujibnagar Day.
Asked on what grounds senior journalist Shafik Rehman was arrested, the Home Minister said, You (journalists) know everything there was a plot to kidnap and kill our ICT adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy in the USA.
Those who were arrested there in connection with the plot had conversations with 2-3 people in Bangladesh. Shafik Rehman might have link with them.
Meanwhile, After journalist Shafik Rehman, detectives have now found involvement of detained Amar Desh editor Mahmudur Rahman in the alleged conspiracy to abduct and kill Prime Ministers son Sajeeb Wazed Joy in the USA.
Talking to UNB, additional commissioner and chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Monirul Islam said, Investigators have found Mahmudur Rahmans connection with a plot to abduct and kill Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas son and her ICT adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy. He said the Detective Branch (DB) of police will submit a prayer to Dhaka CMM court on Monday for showing Mahmudur arrested in the case filed with Platan Police Station in August last year. Besides, Monir said, investigation officer of the case, Hasan Arafat, also assistant commissioner of the DB, will submit a prayer to the court to take Mahmudur on remand for quizzing him about the plot.
Mahmudur Rahman has been in jail since his arrest from his newspapers Karwan Bazar office in the city on April 11, 2013 in a case under the ICT act.
