Writers' group rejects Digital Security Act
Digital Security Act has been enacted to rein in writers' freedom of expression through means of intimidation, as crimes defined in as many as its 14 provisions are non-bailable and the degree of punishment doesn't fit them, a group of writers said yesterday.
“The writers' community in Bangladesh has rejected the law,” they said in a statement issued under the banner of Bangladesh Lekhak Oikya (writers' unity).
Facing strong opposition to section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act by writers, journalists and the High Court, the government had repealed it, but the provision was brought back in a severe form to the digital act, the statement said.
When the development of information technology has opened up new possibilities, “It is beyond our understanding what the government wants to accomplish” through incorporating age-old Official Secrets Act, 1923 in the digital security act, they said in the statement.
Signatories of the statement including Prof Samina Luthfa, Moinuddin Khaled, Fahmidul Haque, Chanchal Ashraf demanded removal of repressive and controversial sections (including 21, 25, 28, 31, 32 and 43), making all charges to be brought under the law bailable and lowering punishment to what would be consistent with punishment under other laws.
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