A television journalist who spent three weeks sharing a disease-ridden cell with murderers in Bangladesh spoke today of her relief at being back home in Bradford with her family.

Zaiba Naz Malik, 33, pictured, was held in the capital Dhaka in November after being caught filming a political documentary for Channel Four and branded a threat to national security.

Along with cameraman Bruno Sorrentino and two others, she was locked up on suspicion of anti-state activities and faced a lifetime in prison.

She was eventually released after three weeks.

And today she was back in Bradford celebrating the New Year with her family in Allerton.

Former Girls' Grammar pupil Zaiba said she was relieved to be back home.

"It has been brilliant being back home with the family. I have been trying to catch up on sleep and get some food down me and spend time with my mum."

She said it had been a traumatic experience and the worst thing had not been knowing what was going on in the outside world. She said treatment had been "up and down".

They were arrested the day before they were due to come back to England.

She was locked up in a women's prison and was unable to communicate with Bruno.

"The prison was very over-crowded. There were very young babies and elderly women aged up to 80 in there. Many of the women were there for murdering their husbands and some were there, bizarrely, because they had been raped.

"It was very strange. There was a lot of disease, it was noisy and cramped but they took me under their wing, they were intrigued by me and they did their best to look after me."

She said the worst thing was not being able to communicate with anyone - particularly her family in Bradford.

She said: "I knew that this would be having a terrible effect on my mother. I was thinking of the grief that they were going through, particularly my mother, and I found that extremely difficult to cope with."

She was only able to contact her family after three weeks when she heard she was being deported.

But she said she felt her nightmare was not over.

"The charges have not been dropped and there is still one of our party, Saleem Samad, who is being held. We are very concerned for him and trying our utmost to get him released.

"We don't even know what the charges are. Sedition was mentioned at the beginning but it is all very vague."

But she said she was surprised to receive so much support.

"It was only when we got out that we found out about all the efforts to secure our release. Channel Four and the Foreign Office and local journalists all gave us a lot of support."

She said that the incident had not put her off her high-flying career.

"It was unfortunate that it happened but it hasn't put me off and my family is very supportive too. They know that this is the nature of the job and they are behind me."

Zaiba also picked up an award while in prison.

"That was a godsend," she laughed. She won the Best Newcomer in the Women in Film and Television awards.

"It was funny being in prison thinking that there was a ceremony going on in London. But my sister made a very moving speech and picked it up on my behalf."

Zaiba completed a law degree at Nottingham University and then studied journalism in Sheffield before joining Yorkshire Television. She then moved to Granada in Manchester before moving to London and working freelance for the BBC and Channel Four. She makes mainly political documentaries.

"I find it a very satisfying area to work in."

She is going back to London and then working on her next project.

"I think that because it has happened to me now, nothing like this will happen to me again - I hope!"