UN correspondent from New York
The United Nation stands for freedom of the press and the ability to the journalists to do their work in the four corners of the Earth everywhere.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said this at the noon briefing at UN Headquarters on Wednesday in reply to a question on the arrest of exiled journalist Kanak Sarwar’s sister Nusrat Shahrin Raka in Bangladesh.
In briefing, UN correspondent M Mushfiqul Fazal asked, “On Bangladesh, I want to ask a question that Bangladesh regime criminalizing journalism with the use of the Digital Security Act and journalists who is in abroad, their family in the country not safe, because one of our colleague, Dr. Kanak Sarwar, he’s based in New York, but they arrested his sister; it’s widely reported in the medias that his sister arrested for connection with his brother, she is an innocent lady. She is under police remand and facing torture. I raised many times about press freedom in Bangladesh and you expressed your concern already. So, what is your comment on the issue?”
In reply, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said “I’m not aware of this particular case, but as you know, wherever in the world, we stand for freedom of the press and the ability to the journalists to do their work in the four corners of the Earth everywhere.”
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members arrested Nushrat Shahreen Raka early Tuesday from her residence in the city’s Uttara area in accusation of spreading anti-state propaganda through online platforms.
On October 1, Raka in her general diary (GD) with the police station said a fake Facebook account had been opened in her name and various anti-government posts had been published since then.
She was arrested before taking any legal steps regarding her GD.
TH/
