The warrant for the arrest of the daily Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman is not aimed at snatching of freedom of the media, said the Information minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud.
He said this in response to a question regarding the death of a student of Mohammadpur Residential School and College in a view exchange with the journalists after the Information minister returned from Delhi on Sunday (Jan. 19).
After the arrest warrant was issued against the Prothom Alo editor, the Information minister said when asked about the statement of 47 prominent citizens in the country. Hasan Mahmud said, "Look, there is freedom of expression in our country. It is not a big thing that the 47 prominent Bangladeshi people have made the statement. Besides, there are also thousands of prominent citizens in Bangladesh who different views. They can make their statement. But if any attempt is made to conceal it after the death of negligence or if it is buried without postmortem, it is definitely a crime. '
He added, "The firs one, death due to negligence is in the investigation stage." Then it was tried to hide it. The organizers of the event were those who have been accused. It is a different matter, but the allegations against them and those who are responsible so that these people get the proper justice; I hope that these 47 prominent citizens will make another statement. ”
The Information minister said, "It has nothing to do with the freedom of the press.. This is a criminal offence, so the court has issued an arrest warrant. The court as an independent body issued an arrest warrant for conducting the trial. This is not the case for the media to say. And with respect to Amnesty International, I would like to say that Amnesty International once tried to stop war crimes trials in Bangladesh. Amnesty International's statement does not matter. In Palestine, where people are killed like bird hunting, they make no statement. As a result, there are questions about their statement.'
It is to be mentioned here that Naimul Abrar came to attend the anniversary of the Kishore Alo program held at Dhaka Residential Model College ground on last November 1(Friday). During the afternoon ceremony, Abrar came in contact with a live electric wire. Immediately, two specialist physicians at the emergency medical camp set up at the venue gave first aid to Naimul. Later, Naimul was taken to Universal Private Hospital, Mohakhali where the duty doctor pronounced him dead.