Foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday said that Daily Prothom Alo reporter Samsuzzaman was arrested not as a journalist but as a child abuser.
He told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "As per our information, he was arrested for child abuse. He abused and exploited the child.”
When reporters asked how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is making this claim, he said: "We have seen the picture. Didn't you see it?'
He also said that according to the laws of Bangladesh, child abuse is punishable crime.
On Saturday, the foreign ministry in a statement said that it has been observed that several international news agencies have claimed that Prothom Alo's reporter Samsuzzaman was arrested for reporting on “living cost in Bangladesh”.
The foreign ministry in the statement discarded the reports on international news media saying that this information is totally false and fabricated. The journalist was arrested because of child abuse and child exploitation.
