Court orders further probe in DSA case
Just days after police cleared Swedish-Bangladeshi journalist Tasneem Khalil, Hungary-based entrepreneur Zulkarnain Saer Khan and six others of all charges in a case filed under the Digital Security Act (DSA) last year, a Dhaka tribunal yesterday ordered further investigation into them.
Tasneem and Zulkarnain were featured in a recent Al Jazeera report, titled "All the Prime Minister's Men". The report caused a stir in the country and received a major backlash from the government.
A total of 11 people, including the two, cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, writer Mushtaq Ahmed, Rashtrochinta activist Didarul Islam Bhuiyan were prosecuted under the DSA by Rab-3's Assistant Director Abu Bakar Siddique on May 6 last year.
The charges against them included "tarnishing the image of the nation".
On February 4, Sub-Inspector Md Mohsin Sardar of Ramna Police Station, also the investigation officer in the case, pressed charges against three of the accused, dropping the names of the eight others. The three are Kishore, Mushtaq and Didarul.
The Dhaka tribunal yesterday, however, ordered the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit to further investigate all the 11 accused.
Judge Ash Sams Joglul Hossain of the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal passed the order after the prosecutors submitted a petition seeking further probe in the case.
The tribunal also directed the CTTC to submit a probe report to it by March 23.
In the petition, Public Prosecutor Nazrul Islam Shamim said if the seized documents, Facebook links, and WhatsApp, Viber and Messenger messages of the 11 accused were analysed, correct information about them, including their names, addresses and whereabouts, would be unearthed.
The public prosecutor claimed that the accused made objectionable posts on social media against the state, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and several important people of the country.
The public prosecutor further claimed that the investigation officer failed to identify the real culprits and their involvement in the incident, even though there were specific allegations against them. So, further investigation into the case should be conducted, the PP added.
The IO said he dropped the names of eight accused as he did not find their correct names and addresses. If their full names and addresses are found, a supplementary charge sheet will be submitted, the IO added.
The others charged in the case include US-based journalist Shahed Alam; Germany-based blogger Asif Mohiuddin; Minhaj Mannan Emon, managing director of BLE securities and shareholder-director of Dhaka Stock Exchange; Ashik Imran; Shapan Wahed; and Philip Schuhmacher.
During yesterday's hearing, Kishore and Mushtaq were produced before the court while the rest were not present.
Kishore and Mushtaq have been behind bars for nine months, while Minhaj and Didarul were granted bail by court in September last year.
Kishore and Mushtaq's bail petitions have been rejected six times, said their lawyers.