Bangladeshi model arrested over threatening diplomatic ties

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A Bangladeshi model has been arrested for allegedly threatening the country's diplomatic ties, police said Sunday, with her father linking the case to the former Saudi ambassador.

Meghna Alam is being held without charge after falsely accusing "important individuals" with intent to worsen Bangladesh's diplomatic ties, police said.

"These important individuals are foreign nationals," police spokesperson Muhammad Talebur Rahman told AFP.

The 30-year-old's father, Badrul Alam, said her arrest followed a relationship with the then Saudi ambassador to Dhaka.

"The ambassador and Meghna were in a relationship, and my daughter refused his marriage proposal because he already has a wife and children," he said.

AFP could not independently verify his claim and a spokesperson at the Saudi embassy in Dhaka did not respond to queries.

Alam, an ex-beauty queen named Miss Earth Bangladesh in 2020, livestreamed what she said was an attempt to break into her home Wednesday.

Police confirmed her detention Friday and said she was accused of "disrupting state security" and "prejudicing the country's financial interests".

Saudi Arabia is a constant donor of financial and humanitarian aid to Bangladesh. It also hosts 2.16 million Bangladeshi workers, the top nationality, according to the 2022 Saudi census.

Alam's arrest under Bangladesh's Special Powers Act, which permits people to be held indefinitely, was criticised by rights groups.

"We call on the authorities to either charge Meghna with an internationally recognizable crime or release her," Amnesty International wrote Friday on social media platform X, dubbing the legislation "draconian".

Asif Nazrul, law adviser to Bangladesh's interim government, said Sunday using the Special Powers Act to detain Alam "was not appropriate".