Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters' Forum (BSRF) has boycotted a press conference organised by the health ministry over the arrest of Prothom Alo's Senior Reporter Rozina Islam.

The forum came up with the announcement on Tuesday morning.

The next progammes will be announced after an emergency meeting over the issue, it said in a press release signed by Shamim Ahmed, general secretary of BSRF.

The Health Ministry was scheduled to arrange a press briefing around 11 am at the secretariat.

Earlier in the morning, Inspector of Shahbagh Police Station Arifur Rahman Sardar produced Rozina Islam before a Dhaka court with a five-day remand prayer.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Jashim, however, has sent her to jail after rejecting the remand prayer.

Rozina Islam was arrested for allegedly attempting to illegally “collect sensitive government documents and taking photos of them” from the Secretariat on Monday.

The Prothom Alo journalist has rejected all the allegations. "I was, in fact, harassed at the Secretariat," she claimed immediately after her arrest.

BDST: 1335 HRS, May 18, 2021
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