Shafiqul Alam, Press Secretary to Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, said, “My biggest concern is that if I ever end up in jail, will I get access to a high commode?”
He mentioned that during last year’s mass uprising and student protests, he told his wife to hire a lawyer if he got arrested—specifically to ensure he would get access to a high commode in prison. He shared this through a post on his verified Facebook account on Sunday (July 20).
In his Facebook post, Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam wrote that during last year’s curfew and internet shutdown, a journalist from the London-based BBC World Service was the first to warn him that he could be arrested at any moment. “That journalist told me that a minister of Hasina’s government had accused me of spreading false information and labeled me as a ‘spokesperson of terrorists.’ I became very anxious then,” he said. Tanvir Chowdhury from Al Jazeera and two other international journalists also gave him similar warnings. “They said Hasina’s government knew that even during the internet shutdown, AFP’s high-speed internet was still active and I was helping local and foreign journalists use it to send reports, photos, and videos.”Shafiqul Alam said his biggest concern at that time wasn’t the arrest itself. “I was sure that even if they arrested me, they wouldn’t physically torture me—because I was then the bureau chief of AFP, and AFP is a news agency owned by the French government. But what terrified me the most was the thought of being sent to a regular prison cell without a high commode! My knees are broken, and I cannot squat to meet nature’s call.”
