A Bangladeshi journalist has been kept in prison for one and a half months after arrest without any legal privilege of counselling with a lawyer, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said.
The New York-based non-governmental organization, CPJ, has called on Jordanian authorities to release immediately the journalist, Selim Akash, and drop any charges against him.
The organization came up with the urge through a press statement on Monday.
Akash is a reporter for the Bangladeshi satellite broadcaster Bangla TV and news website Jago News.
On April 14, three men in plainclothes arrested the journalist in front of his house in Amman, according to a report by Jago News and a member of the journalist’s family who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.
The family member said the men did not identify themselves nor cite any reason for the arrest, and did not say where they were taking Akash.
On April 17, Akash called his family and said the men had been Jordanian security officers, and that he was being held in a prison in As-Salt, northwest of Amman, the relative said.
The relative told CPJ that Akash has been charged with violating Jordan's telecommunications and anti-terrorism laws, but did not know which specific provisions he was alleged to have broken.
The Ministry of Interior has issued a deportation order against Akash, but no date has been set for his deportation, the relative continued.
The journalist was transferred to Qafqafa Prison in mid-May, and that he has been unable to see a lawyer while in custody, the relative said.
CPJ Middle East and North Africa Representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado said: "If Jordan is to even pretend that it is a country that takes the rule of law seriously, it cannot detain journalists for weeks on vague charges and without access to a lawyer.”
"Authorities should release Selim Akash immediately and drop their bogus terrorism charges against him."
"Police just told him that he was detained for posting news on Facebook," Akash's relative said, adding that the authorities did not cite any specific posts.
The most recent news story Akash published before his arrest was a news broadcast, which he also posted on his personal Facebook account, on the situation of Bangladeshi migrant workers in Jordan, who could not earn an income during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The family member said that Akash was not registered as a journalist with the Jordan Media Commission, and was not on a press visa, adding that he (Akash) had been unable to update his working papers due to Jordan's strict migrant worker regulations.
A court date in the journalist's case has been set for June 14, according to the relative.
CPJ emailed Jordan's Interior Ministry and Public Security Directorate for comment, but did not receive any replies. It also emailed Bangla TV for comment, but there was no reply, the statement added.
