Rights activists and politicians on Monday demanded withdrawal of the health ministry case against journalist Rozina Islam and resignation of the health minister and the secretary.

Leaders of the Doctors’ Platform for People’s Health at a human chain in front of the National Museum called on the government to withdraw the ‘false’ case filed against Rozina, a senior reporter of Prothom Alo.

They also demanded the resignation of health minister Zahed Maleque for his failure to stop corruptions in the health sector.

Former Bangladesh Medical Association president Rashid-e-Mahbub, among others, spoke.

A faction of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal led by Sharif Nurul Ambia also demanded the resignation of health minister Zahid Maleque and health secretary Lokman Hossain Miah for their failure in health sector.

The party formed a human chain in front of the National Press Club and called on the government to withdraw the case against Rozina.

Nurul Ambia said that corruptions at the health ministry should be investigated properly.

Rozina on Monday continued to undergo treatments at a private hospital in Dhaka after she had been admitted to the hospital Sunday night after her release from the Kashimpur Central Jail.

A Dhaka court on Sunday granted her bail in the case filed by the health ministry against her with the Shahbagh police station under the Penal Code and the colonial-era Official Secrets Act 1923 on charges of lifting documents and ‘spying’.

On May 17, Rozina had been kept confined in the health ministry at the secretariat for over five hours before she was handed over to the Shahbagh police.

She was at the ministry to collect information for her reports.

Rozina’s husband Monirul Islam Mithu said that she was suffering from a number of complications and she needed complete rest for now in order to return to her work again.

After her arrest, journalists, academics, lawyers, rights activists and other professional bodies protested the detention, saying that she was harassed because of her investigative reports against health sector corruptions.