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Digital Security Act

8 journos held in a week


Published : 08 May 2020 10:34 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 01:12 PM

Journalists are facing charges, and being arrested at different places of the country in cases filed under the draconian Digital Security Act.

In the first week of May, at least eight journalists have been arrested for expressing their views on social media, criticising government ministers and lawmakers for their mismanagement in COVID-19 preparation and response. In addition to the journalists, three more writers and activists have also been arrested under the act.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based human rights group, has called for the withdrawal of lawsuits against 11 people for posting on Facebook criticizing the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic. The claim was made in a statement published on their website on Thursday.

In addition, seven foreign ambassadors in Bangladesh on Thursday stressed the need for upholding independence of the press and freedom of expression for disseminating facts-based information during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

‘Access to reliable and fact-based information provided by a free and independent media is vital to protecting public health everywhere,’ US ambassador Earl Miller said in a tweet Thursday morning.

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, he said, ‘it is essential that freedom of expression is upheld and that the voices of journalists are not restrained’. 

The seven ambassadors made similar statements in separate tweets in the context of the arrest of several people by Bangladesh law-enforcement agencies and filing of cases against them under the Digital Security Act, an ambassador of a European country said.

In the meantime, The Editors' Council labelled the recent cases and arrest of journalists as a clear gag of press liberty and asked immediate release of all journalists and withdrawal of all cases against them, in a statement on Thursday.

Rights organisation Article 19’s data showed that 60 cases were lodged under the act this year where over 100 people were sued for expressing their opinions on Facebook and other social media.

Police headquarters data showed that two dozen people were arrested in three metropolitan areas, including DMP, and 13 districts in April under the Digital Security Act on charges of criticising ministers, and spreading rumours on the novel coronavirus.

Recently, 11 persons, including a number of journalists, writers, and a cartoonist were charged by RAB under the act on Wednesday. Two journalists in Barguna were arrested under the act on the same night.

Earlier, two journalists in Sunamganj and Cox’s Bazar were shown arrested hours after they were picked up from their homes in connection with two cases filed under the Digital Security Act on Tuesday. A journalist in Sunamganj was charged for posting critical contents on Facebook against a local lawmaker.

The whereabouts of journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol, had remained unknown for almost two months until he reappeared in Sadipur border area of Benapole early Sunday. He later landed in jail in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.

The police have sought seven day remand to interrogate businessman Minhaz Mannan and information technologist Md Didarul Islam Bhuiyan, also a member of Rashtrachinta, in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.

Rapid Action Battalion-3 has filed a case with Ramna police station against 11 people including writer, cartoonist, activists and expatriate journalists for spreading rumours and disinformation on social media.

The elite force framed them on charges of misguiding people, creating instability and chaos in a case filed with Ramna police station under the Digital Security Act.

Cartoonist Ahemed Kabir Kishore, writer and businessman Mushtaq Ahmed, information technologist and Rashtrachinta’s member Md Didarul Islam Bhuiyan, and businessman MinhazMannan were picked up from their homes by plainclothesmen and later shown arrested in the case.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Thursday complained that the government was imprisoning journalists under an oppressive law.