HC stays remand for Odhikar secy

The High Court yesterday stayed the five-day remand granted by a lower court on Sunday for interrogation of Odhikar Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan.
The HC also asked the authorities concerned to send him to jail immediately in connection with the case filed against him under the Information and Communication Technology Act.
It, however, allowed the investigation officer to interrogate the accused, if necessary, at the jail gate.
The court also issued a rule upon the government to explain in two weeks why the order of a Dhaka court granting the remand prayer should not be cancelled.
Detectives arrested Adilur at his residence in Gulshan around 10:30pm Saturday on charges of tarnishing the image of the government, the state and law enforcers by publishing a “false report” online about the crackdown on Hefajat-e Islam at Motijheel Shapla Chattar in May.
Yesterday, the vacation bench of HC of Justice Borhanuddin and Justice Kashifa Hossain came up with the order and the rule after hearing a petition filed by the Odhikar secretary, challenging the lower court order permitting the remand.
Meanwhile, at a press briefing at his secretariat office, Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu yesterday insisted that the arrest of Adilur Rahman was not a violation of human rights.
“He has been arrested against specific complaint under the existing law of the country,” he said in reply to concerns of international rights bodies over the arrest.
Referring to Odhikar's June 10 report titled, “Assembly of Hefazate Islam Bangladesh and Human Rights Violation”, Inu said, “The pictures published on the cover of the report were modified using Photoshop.”
He said that by publishing the report with these pictures on their website, Odhikar broke the ICT law and tried to instigate communal violence and political strife to create unrest in the society.
Inu claimed that any foreign funded NGO is required by law to provide any information as per government's demand.
By refusing to provide government with the details of all the 61 victims who allegedly died in the drive by law enforcers in the early hours of May 6 in Shapla Chattar, as claimed by Odhikar in its report, the NGO flouted the Rights to Information Act, he said.
On July 10, the ministry asked for the report and the details of the victims through a letter to Odhikar, but the rights body refused to give the details to the government, saying the security of the victims and their families might be at stake at the government's hand.
At the briefing yesterday, throwing a challenge to BNP, Jamaat, Hefajat and Odhikar, Inu said, “Just give me one name who died during the drive in that night [early hours of May 6]. If you cannot, then stop this false propaganda.”
In the meantime, different rights organisations demanded Adilur Rahman Khan's release.
The Supreme Court Bar Association at a rally on its office premises yesterday threatened to initiate a country-wide movement if the Odhikar secretary, a former deputy attorney general, is not released immediately.