A HENDON son is campaigning for the release of his father from a Bangladesh prison where he claims the 81-year-old has been falsely detained.

Shumit Rehman said his father Shafik Rehman had been placed in maximum security prison in jail after being accused of plotting to kill Sajeed Wazed Joy, the son of prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

But lawyers for Mr Rehman have said the veteran journalist has been the victim of a smear campaign, with the UK citizen jailed for more than a month without being officially charged.

Mr Rehman said he was desperate for his father, who is a British national, to be released with his health already worsening.

He said: “He’s getting weak and he has no bed to sleep on, he’s been sleeping on the floor.

“His health is deteriorating and my worst fear is that he will die in jail.”

The wife of Shafik Rehman was able to visit her husband once last week, telling her son he had aged “four years in four weeks”.

Mr Rehman said: “He’s being kept in a maximum security jail in solitary confinement and because he’s diabetic he will get ill very quickly without regular food and medicine.”

“He’s well-known for having long grey hair and that was cut when he went into jail – it’s a further way of degrading and humiliating him.”

Mr Rehman said he believed his father had been targeted with the “manufactured” plot due to his journalistic work challenging the government.

He added: “This ridiculous accusation about his involvement in a non-existent plot is a tactic to silence him.”

Journalist Mr Rehman has denied all knowledge and involvement in the plot with his case now being handled by Reprieve, a human rights legal and investigative support organisation.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson confirmed Mr Rehman’s arrest in Bangladesh.

“We can confirm the arrest in Bangladesh of Mr Shafik Rehman, and are in contact with his family. We are pursuing consular access with the local authorities.”