Bangladeshi journalist arrested for reporting election irregularities

A Bangladeshi journalist was arrested and another was on the run on Wednesday for publishing “false information” about voting irregularities in an election won by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, police said.

Hedayet Hossain Mollah, who works for the Dhaka Tribune newspaper, was detained late Tuesday under a controversial digital security law which rights groups say gives authorities broad powers to stifle dissent.

Mollah was arrested in the southern Khulna region after he reported that in one constituency 22,419 more ballots than the number of registered voters were cast, local police chief Mahbubur Rahman said.

If convicted Mollah could face up to 14 years in jail under a draconian anti-press law that was toughed by Hasina last year.

The police chief said another journalist was wanted for questioning after a local government administrator filed a case against the two under the the controversial law.