Journalist arrested for reports critical of Mamata Admin granted bail

Aug 18, 2020

Kolkata: Journalists Safiqul Islam and Suraj Ali Khan who were arrested on June 9 were granted bail by Calcutta’s High Court on August 14.

Islam, owner of Arambagh TV youtube channel, his wife Amina Khatun and Khan, a reporter working for the web channel were arrested after the channel exposed the alleged unfair distribution of Covid-19 funds to private clubs by Mamata Banerjee’s government, the International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) and its Indian affiliate the National Union of Journalists – India (NUJ-I) said while hailing the court’s decision.

They, however,  expressed disappointment by the arbitrary detention of the journalists on spurious pretences.

The investigation or FIR against the journalists had alleged that Islam and Khan blackmailed a local resident who was photographed cutting down a tree on government land, extorting money allegedly in exchange for not publishing the image.

Islam’s family have received a number of threats in past. According to Khatun, in the first week of May, around 30 to 40 men had gathered around his house and threatened the family for a news report broadcasted on the youtube channel.

The NUJ-I President Ras Bihari said: “The NUJ -I was advocating for his release and wrote a letter to Hon’ble Governor and the Chief Minister of West Bengal to intervene against the arrest of journalists. We welcome the court’s decision.”

The IFJ said: “The IFJ is relieved that the journalists have been released. But the IFJ notes that the arrest and subsequent investigation was intended to discourage the journalists from independent and critical reporting. We urge the Indian government to stop such harassment against journalists.”

—India News Stream