The government didn't allow international human rights lawyer William Sloan to hold press conference here on February 22 as he came to Bangladesh on tourist visa to see some paintings, not on business he was doing here, it was officially stated Sunday.

A news release issued by Home Ministry said Sloan had told the immigration officials during his arrival at Zia International Airport on February 16 that he was very interested to see different paintings. s a tourist, it was only logical for him to see different paintings according to the country's existing law.

"But, without doing that, Sloan, also president of the American Association of Jurists, the Canadian chapter, attended dinner with lawyers, gave interviews to private media and also sat in meetings with politicians as well as university teachers though he was asked not to engage in such activities," it said.

The government clarification said that, being a foreign tourist, no one could deliver e speech about a country's political and sub-judice matters. "For that reason, the government did not allow Sloan to arrange press conference on February 22 at Sonargaon Hotel.

" During his visit, the HR jurist had spoken about the political detainees here, including former rulers like Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia.