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Published : 10 Jun 2026, 08:28 PM
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said it is monitoring the arrest and hearing of bdnews24.com correspondent Mohammad Asaduzzaman, who was detained from his home in Jashore on Jun 8.
In a Facebook post, the New York-based media rights organisation said Asaduzzaman is being held under the Special Powers Act in connection with a complaint that appears to have confused him with a politician bearing the same name.
CPJ said after being produced in court, Asaduzzaman was denied bail and sent to Jashore district jail until his next hearing on Jun 11.
The organisation urged the authorities to ensure that the journalist is not being targeted because of his professional work, that due process is fully observed, and that any detention is based on credible evidence.
In the application seeking his detention, police said that he was Mohammad Asaduzzaman Asad, organising secretary of the Sharsha Upazila Awami League.
However, family members and lawyers say the arrested man is a former instructor at Sharsha Government Women's College who also works as a journalist.
They say he once served as education affairs secretary of the Upazila Awami League committee but never held the post of organising secretary.
The actual organising secretary of the Sharsha Upazila Awami League is also named Asaduzzaman Asad, who previously served as assistant private secretary to former Jashore-1 lawmaker Sheikh Afil Uddin.
According to the family, police showed the journalist arrested in a 2025 case after confusing him with the political leader because of the similarity in their names.
When he was produced before a Jashore court on Monday afternoon, Additional Senior Judicial Magistrate Asadul Islam rejected his bail petition and ordered him to jail.
Jamal Hossain, Benapole correspondent for Ekushey Television, said police had detained the journalist believing him to be Asaduzzaman Asad, the former APS to ex-MP Afil.
"Now they appear to have realised the mistake, but they are still not releasing him," he said.
