Journalist Probir on 3-day remand

Journalist Probir Sikder was placed on a three-day remand in connection with a case filed under Information and Communication Technology Act for “tarnishing the image” of LGRD Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Hamidul Islam in Faridpur granted the remand after he was produced before the court around 9:00am, Manir Hossain, a sub-inspector of Faridpur Sadar Police Station, told The Daily Star.

He was picked up from the capital, Dhaka after Faridpur local Awami League leader Swapan Kumar Paul filed the case on Sunday following a Facebook post of Probir.

In the post he said his life was under threat and that the minister, businessman Moosa bin Shamser and condemned fugitive war criminal Abul Kalam Azad would be responsible if he were killed, police said.

Yesterday, police produced the journalist before the same court seeking a 10-day remand. But the court sent Probir, 55, to prison and may hear the remand petition today, according to the court sources

Probir, editor of Bangla daily Bangla 71 and online news portal u71news.com was picked up by detectives on Sunday evening from his office in the capital.

Police first said they took him to the DB office to “discuss” the threats he was under as he claimed in his Facebook post. Later around midnight, they admitted to have arrested him in the case filed with Faridpur Sadar Police Station.

The arrest of Probir, who lost his father and several other family members during the Liberation War, sparked huge protest on the streets and also in social media.

The senior journalist wrote a series of reports titled "Sei Razakar" in Bangla daily Janakantha in 2001 against some alleged war criminals, including a controversial businessman from Faridpur and the now condemned war criminal Abul Kalam Azad, also known as Bacchu Razakar, according to a draft GD that he posted on Facebook after police allegedly refused to record it.

He was attacked in April 2001 following his write-ups. In the attack, he lost a leg and also strength and mobility of one hand.