Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen today said Prothom Alo senior journalist Rozina Islam will get fair treatment and judgement and emphasised that Bangladesh's judiciary is very independent.
"Bangladesh's judiciary is very independent, she [Rozina] will get fair treatment, and judgment. We don't want anyone to suffer," he told CNN in a live interview. He also mentioned that this is a legal issue and they do not intend to interfere with it in the process.
Dr Momen said there is law in the country and they honour the law and that is why they do not want to talk about it much since it is now before the court. "Rozina will get a fair judgment…no doubt about that."
Yesterday Momen said the harassment and arrest of Prothom Alo senior reporter Rozina Islam is very regrettable.
"It's very regrettable. The government of Sheikh Hasina is a media-friendly one. We've nothing to hide. I know, as Foreign Ministry, we've to face it. Many will raise questions. We don't want such incident," Dr Momen said.
The foreign minister also said the media was doing a lot for the country. He lauded the media for revealing corruption, including in purchase of pillows for Rooppur nuclear power plant project and treatment of novel coronavirus patients at a hospital owned by Shahed Karim.
"The government has taken action (after those stories were published). You (media) help the government. You're part of the government. You're helping us (govt). We thank you," he said.
Rozina is accused under sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act and sections 379 and 411 of the Penal Code, for allegedly attempting to "collect sensitive government documents and taking photos of them" at the Health Ministry.
APPEAL FOR VACCINE
During the interview, he also reached out to the global media to let the world know that Bangladesh is looking for vaccines desperately and is ready to accept any shipment from any country, including the United States.
"We need it desperately. If any shipment comes, we'll take it right away," he told CNN in a live interview today.
Momen said the big problem is that a large number of people in Bangladesh who took the first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca could not take the second dose.
"Because we don't have any more. We can't give them the second dose. That's creating a lot of problems for us," said the foreign minister.
He said the government of Bangladesh is trying to get vaccines from other places and they were delighted when Bangladesh heard that the US will be distributing some of the AstraZeneca vaccines that they have.
Dr Momen said he had requested the US government and sent a letter to his counterpart US Secretary of State. "They agreed to give us."
Now the problem is, he said, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking a long time to approve the export of AstraZeneca.
