CIC apprises Arafat of inquiry into incident of jailing journalist thru mobile court

Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Abdul Malek has apprised State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat of the inquiry into the incident of jailing Dainik Desh Rupantar's journalist Shafiuzzaman Rana by a mobile court.

At a meeting at his Secretariat office today, Arafat extended thanks to the Information Commission for submitting the report quickly after investigating the incident of jailing the journalist.

He said the government believes in complete freedom of the media and professional journalists.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is against the unwanted harassment of any journalist, the state minister added.

Arafat also said people have the right to get information.

The government enacted the Right to Information Act to ensure transparency and accountability in government work, he said, adding, that under this law, people's right to information should be ensured.

The CIC has also informed the State Minister that Information Commissioner Shahidul Alam Jhinuk has already submitted the investigation report to the Information Commission.

He also said legal action will be taken in this regard tomorrow.

CIC Abdul Malek also told the state minister that both parties involved in the incident will be summoned to the Information Commission.

Information commissioners Shahidul Alam Jhinuk and Masuda Bhatti were present on the occasion.

Earlier, the commission assigned Information Commissioner Jhinuk to investigate the incident as per section 25(5) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2009, following a report published in the national daily on "Desh Rupantor journalist jailed for seeking information."

Immediately taking cognisance of the incident of imprisonment of the journalist, the state minister urged the Chief Information Commissioner to investigate the incident.

To investigate the incident, Information Commissioner Shahidul Alam Jhinuk visited the Sherpur district jail and recorded Shafiuzzaman Rana's statement. He also visited journalist Rana's residence in Nakla Upazila and talked to Rana's wife.

Later on the same day, the information commissioner talked to Nakla Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sadia Ummul Banin at her office and examined the documents of awarding the sentence to the journalist.