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The reason for the arrest and subsequent release of Mizanur Rahman Sohel, the online editor of Bangla-language daily Bhorer Kagoj, in the middle of the night is still unclear.
Following his release, Mizanur pointed the finger at an advisor to the government, but he did not name the individual he believes to be involved, bdnews24.com reports.
However, the name of Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, the special assistant to the advisor on ICT, has come up in the heated discussions surrounding the incident.
Faiz denies his involvement, claiming that “vested interests” are conducting “propaganda” against him after he refused to give them concessions or benefits.
The Detective Branch (DB) that arrested Mizanur says there was a misunderstanding.
Around 12:30am on Wednesday, DB personnel arrested Mizanur from his house in Dhaka’s Badda. After 10 hours in detention, he was released on Wednesday morning.
DB also arrested a business leader in the “grey market” for mobile phones at 3am over the same incident. Abu Saeed Pias, general secretary of the Mobile Business Community of Bangladesh (MBCB) was detained from his Mirpur-1 residence at around 3am by people carrying DB identification, his wife Sumaiya Chowdhury said. Pias is still in DB custody.
After his release, Mizanur wrote a post on his verified Facebook account around 11am, describing his ordeal.
In the post, Mizanur wrote, "After being held in DB custody for about 10 and a half hours without any wrongdoing, they just took me home with dignity."
"Last night around 12:00am, 5-6 DB personnel forcibly took me from my house on the pretext that the DB chief would talk to me. I was taken to the DB office, and my name was written in the record book for arrestees. My shoes and belt were taken off, and I was kept in a cell with detainees. But why was I detained? I did not know, nor did those who brought me or the senior DB officials say anything."
Mizanur continued, "After a long time, I realised that I was detained at the behest of a government advisor simply to give the opportunity for only nine mobile phone businessmen to run a monopoly. The secretary of the organisation (MBCB), Abu Saeed Pias, was also detained alongside me."
Stating that MBCB was scheduled to hold a media briefing at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on Wednesday over the National Equipment Identification Register (NEIR), he wrote: "Their main target was to stop that media briefing. But regrettably for them, the reason they tried to stop the press conference is now known to everyone."
He alleged the NEIR system clearly conflicts with the country’s free-market policy and that the Competition Commission exists to ensure fair competition. Yet a deep conspiracy was under way to favour only nine traders at the expense of 25,000 mobile phone retailers nationwide, he says.
If the project were implemented, he said, ordinary people in rural areas and expatriates would face difficulties, the supply chain would collapse, and many traders would lose their livelihoods. He added that one of the nine traders was a school friend of the government advisor.
Mizanur concluded: "Why is the government afraid when someone speaks out against a business syndicate? Was it necessary to forcibly pick me up late at night just to stop a media briefing? Did those who preach 'freedom of speech' organise this to silence me? Is this the real picture of free speech in a lawless land?"
After Sohel’s arrest came to light, many people took to Facebook to blame Faiz.
Asked if he was referring to Faiz, Mizanur told bdnews24.com, "He (Faiz) knows who I am speaking about."
FAIZ'S DENIAL
Meanwhile, in a press release from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Faiz denied his involvement in Mizanur's arrest.
The press release titled “Allegations against Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb are baseless and motivated” said, "On Tuesday night, a team of police detectives took Bhorer Kagoj Online Editor Mizanur Rahman Sohel to their offices for questioning. However, alongside this, a baseless campaign has begun concerning Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, the special assistant to the chief advisor in charge of the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology, which came to our attention this morning. There, Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb has been implicated in the implementation of NEIR and the truth has been distorted by the mixing in of fanciful inventions."
Faiz said in the press release, "We are implementing NEIR in the interest of national order and security. The BTRC has also held a meeting with the aggrieved parties to rein in illegal handsets. Despite all this, some online news portals have purposefully blamed me for a certain Facebook post. My statement to them is that this is uncalled for. Law enforcing agencies are doing their job. I have no right to be involved in this. There are no complaints against me from the journalist concerned or his family in this regard. However, a vested interest group is conducting such propaganda after they failed to get concessions and benefits from me. An investigation of the incident shows the journalist was sent home after interrogation."
Faiz added, "I have no personal or professional connection with journalist Mizanur Rahman. Still, such 'propaganda' is a distortion of the right to free speech."
DB CALLS IT ‘MISUNDERSTANDING’.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Additional Commissioner (DB) Shafiqul Alam says the arrest of Mizanur Rahman Sohel is a misunderstanding.
According to police, Mizanur had been questioned over an event management assignment in which he allegedly used the names of an organisation’s president and secretary without permission.
"Later, we summoned the secretary of that organisation, and since the issue was a misunderstanding, journalist Mizanur Rahman was taken back home around dawn," said Sohel.