vigilant TV

Bangladesh has released and deported the two journalists who were arrested last month on sedition charges for attempting to make a political documentary. They will not be permitted to use any of the video footage they recorded. Two local journalists will face charges for assisting the Europeans.

Authorities detained Zaiba Naz Malik of Britain and Leopoldo Bruno Sorrentino of Italy on November 25 in western Bangladesh and seized camera equipment and video footage. The government accused the journalists of preparing documentaries that falsely portray Bangladesh as a haven for terrorists.

The government decided to deport the journalists after they agreed to sign a statement saying they would not use any of the footage they had collected in Bangladesh, Junior Foreign Minister Reaz Rahman told reporters.

Rahman said the journalists admitted that they had concealed their identities and had come to Bangladesh to investigate reports of al-Qaeda terrorists hiding in the South Asian nation.

Police also have arrested two Bangladeshi journalists, Priscila Raz and Saleem Samad, for allegedly assisting the two Europeans. The fate of the two Bangladeshi journalists was to be decided separately by a court, Rahman said.

– AP, European journalists released.

See also the BBC, C4 journalists set free from Bangladeshi jail.