Journalist Nazrul Islam turned back from airport on World Press Freedom Day

Staff Correspondent

Senior international journalist Nazrul Islam Mithu was prevented from traveling abroad on Press Freedom Day. Immigration police and intelligence agencies turned him back without any specific reason when he went to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Sunday to visit China.

Nazrul Islam Mithu is the Dhaka correspondent of the German state news agency ‘DPA’. He is also the current president of the Overseas Correspondents Association of Bangladesh (OCAB), an organization of foreign media representatives, and the former president of the Dhaka Reporters Unity.

Nazrul Islam told the media that while he was standing in line at the immigration counter after collecting his boarding pass at the airport in the afternoon, a police officer started calling his name. He was then taken to the room of the Special Superintendent of Police (SP) in charge of immigration. There, he was asked to provide details about his profession and identity. He was then sent back from the airport without giving any reason.

An immigration police official confirmed that Nazrul Islam was turned back from the airport. However, on condition of anonymity, he said that Nazrul Islam is an accused in the student mob killing case in Jatrabari during the July movement. Detectives have objected to his traveling abroad.

Meanwhile, after returning from the airport, Nazrul Islam narrated the entire incident on his Facebook account. In the post, he wrote that while he was at the airport, four field officers of the intelligence agency surrounded him and questioned him about whether he was the president of ‘Oqab’ or whether there was any case against him. Although the police officers present admitted that there were no legal charges against him, they kept him sitting for a long time because he did not have clearance from the ‘agency’.

After waiting for about an hour, when the flight time approached, the concerned SP told him that it was not possible to allow him to go abroad today. When asked about the reason for the obstruction, the officer could not give a satisfactory answer. He said that they were only following the instructions from higher authorities. Later, his luggage was offloaded by the airline authorities and he was forced to leave the airport.

At the same time, immigration police were also seen harassing other ordinary passengers by interrogating them on irrelevant matters, said Nazrul Islam.

Nazrul Islam commented on this incident as being contrary to Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That article clearly states that every citizen has the full right to leave his country and to return to his country.

Today, May 3, is World Press Freedom Day. On the occasion of the day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is emphasizing media freedom. Just a day before, the World Press Freedom Organization (WPO) called for an end to all forms of repression of the media.