2 more sent to jail in case under DSA
A Dhaka court yesterday rejected the bail petition of two of the 11 accused in the case filed under the Digital Security Act for "spreading rumours and carrying out anti-government activities".
Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury sent the two -- Didarul Islam, an activist of politico-civic organisation Rashtrachinta, and Minhaj Mannan Emon, director of Dhaka Stock Exchange -- to jail after police produced them before him with a seven-day remand prayer.
The hearing on the remand prayer will be held once the court reopens, Sub-inspector Nizamuddin Fakir, general recording officer at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court told our court correspondent.
Meanwhile, two journalists were arrested in Barguna yesterday under the Digital Security Act for allegedly recording video of a woman and her daughter for harassing them.
On Wednesday, Rab-3 Assistant Director Abu Bakar Siddique filed the case with the Ramna Police Station against the eleven, including Cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, writer Mushtaq Ahmed, Swedish-Bangladeshi journalist Tasneem Khalil, and blogger Asif Mohiuddin.
Kishore and Mushtaq landed in jail on Wednesday after a Dhaka court rejected their bail prayer.
Talking to The Daily Star, Supreme Court lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua said, "If the accused had published something which is a subject matter of the law, then it is a public document and can be accessed from any computer system or even from a smartphone.
"So what is the justification for taking a person on remand? What else can a police officer find other than the published statement?" he questioned.
"It was not right to accuse all the 11 people in the same case. If there is any specific allegation against someone, a case should be filed against the person separately. Now for one, the other 10 may suffer," he added.
Meanwhile, 37 noted citizens in a statement yesterday demanded the withdrawal of the case filed under the Digital Security Act.
"We are decrying the action taken by the government and demand that the case be withdrawn. Freedom of expression is a constitutional right. It is extremely worrying that people are being forced into silence by threats of arrest, detention and lawsuit during this pandemic," said the statement.
The signatories include former adviser to a caretaker government Hafizuddin Khan; noted human rights activists Sultana Kamal and Khushi Kabir; Transparency International, Bangladesh Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman; jurist Shahdeen Malik; photojournalist Shahidul Alam; anthropologist Rahnuma Ahmed; Professor Ali Riaz of Illinois State University; Professor Mirza Taslima Sultana of Jahangirnagar University; and Supreme Court lawyers Sara Hossain, Syeda Rizwana Hasan and Jyotirmoy Barua.
They also criticised the imprisonment of photojournalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol.
In a separate statement, a number of former student leaders also demanded Kajol's release.
They include Shafi Ahmed, Nur Ahmed Bakul, Nazmul Haque Prodhan, Sirajum Munir and Bazlur Rashid Firoze.
ARREST OF 2 JOURNOS
The arrested journalists are Mir Jamal, 28, Barguna correspondent of banglanews24.com, and Sumon Sikder, 28, Barguna correspondent of Channel News 24, Bangla Tribune and Daily Desh Rupantar.
Banglanews24.com and Bangla Tribune suspended the two and will investigate the allegations of violation of journalistic ethics against them.
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