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Saleem finally freed

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
After 50 days' detention, freelance journalist Saleem Samad was finally freed from Kashimpur jail yesterday.
His family members received him at the jail gate at 3 pm and brought him to his house in the city.
He was released as the High Court on January 14 declared his detention illegal. But the order took four days to reach the jail.
Saleem was arrested on November 29 on sedition charge. The charge, as defined by the government, was that he had helped two foreign journalists in filing reports to tarnish the country's image.
The two foreign journalists, who were the main accused in the sedition case, were released on December 11.
The High Court granted Saleem bail on December 23. On the next
day, he was given one month's detention under the Special Powers Act.
"It's not my activities which degraded the country's image," Saleem told The Daily Star over telephone upon reaching home.
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"It's the activity of the government that has damaged the image.
"Charges were brought against me as part of a conspiracy. This has been proved now," he said.
"I was physically tortured by one particular police official repeatedly," Saleem said, naming Kohinoor Mia, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Detective Branch) of Police.
"But I assure you that the torture on me was nothing compared to what was applied on Reuters journalist Enamul Haque Chowdhury." Saleem said he had a chance to meet Enamul for some time at Dhaka Central Jail.
Saleem who is also a correspondent of international media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontiers described his horrific experience during detention.
"On the first day of my remand, Kohinoor Mia took me to his office room. He laid me flat on the floor and pressed his foot on me. Calling me son of a whore, he said -- if a traitor like you is shot dead, that would benefit the country.
"He beat me severely in all joints of my body. Later he pressured me to name Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Shahriar Kabir and Muntasir Mamun as conspirators against the country and said the case against me would be framed loosely if I do so. I refused."
When contacted over telephone last night, ADC Kohinoor Mia vehe-
mently denied the allegations.
"These are all baseless accusations. Many people, upon their release, make up tales. He (Saleem Samad) never made such allegations when he was taken to the Magistrate," Kohinoor said.
Saleem Samad claimed that the government had "targeted" him from March 2002 following publication of a report of Reporters Sans Frontier that the government was repressing journalists in Bangladesh.
"After publication of the report, BNP-leaning journalists warned me that I would be taught a lesson very soon," he said.
"My arrest and the arrests of Shahriar Kabir, Muntasir Mamun, Enamul Haq Chowdhury-- who were involved with the press-- show that freedom of press in Bangladesh is being gagged," he said.
Saleem said he is consulting his lawyers to file a suit against the government for harassing and torturing him.
Saleem fought legal battles against the government soon after he was detained. He obtained bail from the High Court after the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's court denied him bail thrice.
He was transferred to Kashimpur jail from Dhaka Central Jail on December 31.