DSA Cases Studied in last 20 months: Only two out of 668 disposed of
Think-tank Centre for Governance Studies says it tracked details of 668 out of more than 1,500 cases filed under the controversial Digital Security Act in the last 20 months or so, and found that only two of the cases have been disposed of.
The DSA came into force on this day three years ago and it has come under severe criticism for several of its sections which rights activists say curb people's freedom of expression and target independent journalism.
One of the two cases solved was filed against policemen, the CGS said based on the data logged between January last year and September this year.
A cloth merchant had accused Kotwali Police Station Sub-Inspector Pabitra Sarkar, SI Khaled Sheikh, Assistant Sub-Inspector Shahinur Rahman, constable Mizanur Rahman and informant Motaleb of threatening him with "crossfire" and demanding extortion money from him. The five have been acquitted.
The other case was against Sirajum Munira, a former lecturer of Bangla department of Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur. Law enforcers had arrested her on June 14, 2020 on charges of posting a "derogatory status" on Facebook about Awami League leader Mohammad Nasim. She was acquitted last week.
On the other hand, scores of DSA cases against journalists, teachers, politicians and common people remain pending.
Out of a total of 1,543 individuals accused, charges were pressed against only 1.17 percent of them, shows data collected by the CGS.
This is in spite of the fact that the law stipulates an investigation report must be submitted within 60 days of filing of the case. The authorities might get another 15 days of extension. Another month can be granted if allowed by the cyber tribunal.
"But over the past three years, in many cases, the investigation report was not filed within the stipulated time. Yet the accused are still in custody and effectively being punished before the trial," pointed out CGS in a statement circulated to the media yesterday.
It said of the 499 people arrested in the cases studied, 42 were journalists, 55 politicians and 32 students. Similarly, of those whose professions could be ascertained, politicians were the most accused, followed by journalists.
Thirteen children, under the age of 18, were also prosecuted.
CGS points out that this includes a ninth-grade student who was arrested and sent to a juvenile correction centre on June 20 last year. The student was from Bhaluka of Mymensingh and he allegedly insulted the prime minister on Facebook while commenting on a decision to impose an additional tax on the use of mobile phones.
"An overwhelming majority of these cases are not filed by aggrieved persons but by others, often by ruling party activists on behalf of their leaders," said CGS.
Data on 577 cases logged by CGS shows that in 507 of the cases, those filing the cases were not the direct victims of the incidents.
Although the professional identity of the accusers could not be ascertained in a vast majority of the cases, the ones that could be identified were mostly politicians.
"The political identity of the accusers that we have been able to identify shows that 85 percent belongs to the ruling Awami League. Law enforcement agencies have filed 76 cases," said the CGS statement.
"During the period under review, 74 cases have been filed for allegedly defaming Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," it added. Thirteen of these cases were filed by law enforcement agencies.
Similarly, while 41 cases were filed for the alleged defamation of ministers, only four were filed by the aggrieved party or their family members.
The statement said these data were gathered from government-approved print and electronic media outlets, the accused or their family and friends, the lawyers for the accused, and police stations and other departments concerned.
"[The trend] reveals how a law has become a tool of emergent authoritarianism. It is nothing short of criminalising dissent. The wanton use of the law has created a culture of fear in Bangladesh. Repealing the law has become necessary," said Prof Ali Riaz, principal investigator of the project and distinguished professor at Illinois State University in the US.
The DSA came into force on October 1, 2018 as a replacement for the Information and Communication Technology Act, which included the widely criticised section 57.
The DSA allows for search and arrest without a warrant, simply on suspicion that a crime has been committed using social media. Furthermore, out of the 20 provisions of the law that deal with offences and punishments, 14 are non-bailable. The lowest punishment is one year in prison and the highest is a life term.
In the past three years, the widespread use of the act, particularly against the critics of the government, has drawn condemnation from human rights organisations at home and abroad, said the CGS statement.
Due to the extensive use of this draconian act, the emergent situation has been described by the Editor's Council as the "nightmare-reality". The law has severely curtailed the freedom of expression in Bangladesh. Journalists and citizens of various walks of society have been victimised for speaking out in cyber space, the statement added.
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