Digital Security Act : JU student sued over FB posts

A student of Jahangirnagar University was sued yesterday for allegedly disparaging the government, the prime minister and the vice-chancellor on social media.

The accused, Mumitul Mimma, is a 44th batch student of the Institute of Information Technology.

Shahadat Hossain, vice chairman of Savar Upazila Parishad, filed the case with Ashulia Police Station under the Digital Security Act around 5:30pm.

According to the case statement, Mumitul posted several derogatory photos of Vice Chancellor Prof Farzana Islam on her Facebook account and made denigrating comments about the government, the prime minister and the VC in the last couple of days since the protest against the alleged corruption of JU authorities began.

The protesters, however, said they would not take responsibilities of her FB posts as she had not come to the protest so far.

“She may have supported the protest. But we will not take the responsibility for what she has posted on her own Facebook account,” said Ariful Islam Anik, general secretary of JU unit Chhatra Union and an organiser of the platform “Jahangirnagar Against Corruption”.

Meanwhile, Deputy Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury yesterday told journalists that the government would find out the “instigators” of the protest before forming a committee to investigate the corruption allegations brought against the authorities and the VC. 

He also slammed the protesting teachers and students of JU, saying the government would take action against them for “creating nuisance” in the name of protest as the inquiry was yet to start.

Mentioning the penal code section 211, the deputy minister said, “Bringing false charges against anyone is a crime and a person may face two years of imprisonment for doing such a crime.”

He made these remarks while speaking at a press conference at the International Mother Language Institute in Dhaka.

“How can we say that the VC has misappropriated money whereas not a single penny was released for the project?” Mohibul questioned.

Responding to his remarks, Khandakar Hasan Mahmud, one of the protesting teachers, told The Daily Star, “It is not right that there is no scope of corruption if the money is not released.”

Meanwhile defying the ongoing ban, around hundred protesting students yesterday brought out a procession on the campus demanding removal of JU VC around 4:30pm. 

They also marched towards the university’s main entrance and took position in front of the gate for some minutes.

FRESH PROTEST PROGRAMME DECLARED

Meanwhile, the protesters yesterday declared a fresh protest programme at a press conference held at the university’s New Arts building. 

They halted the protest for the next two days considering the adverse weather conditions across the country. 

Fresh programmes will begin on November 12.