(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, RSF asked for journalist Shaharier Kabir’s immediate release. He was detained for “possessing information which could jeopardise the country’s stability.” RSF expressed concern over the government’s use of an emergency law to imprison the journalist, who was only reporting on the situation of hundreds […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, RSF asked for journalist Shaharier Kabir’s immediate release. He was detained for “possessing information which could jeopardise the country’s stability.” RSF expressed concern over the government’s use of an emergency law to imprison the journalist, who was only reporting on the situation of hundreds of Hindus suffering religious persecution in Bangladesh. “This decision runs counter to your party’s recent electoral promises, in which you committed to not use emergency laws against the press,” declared RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard.
According to information obtained by RSF, on 23 November 2001, a Dhaka court placed Kabir, independent journalist and documentary producer, in detention, in accordance with the 1974 Special Powers Act. On 22 November, the journalist was questioned by the police for several hours at Dhaka international airport upon his arrival from Calcutta. The police chief informed the press that Kabir was “in possession of harmful documents that could endanger the country’s stability.” The police seized his videotapes, notes and passport. The journalist had gone to India to cover the humanitarian situation at the Bangladeshi border. Hundreds of Hindus, who are suffering religious persecution instigated mainly by ruling party supporters, have taken refuge in India. A few days before his arrest, Kabir was interviewed by the BBC and gave some details about the violence committed against Hindu civilians.
In accordance with the 1974 Special Powers Act, Kabir can be detained for up to ninety days. On 23 November, more than 2,000 people demonstrated in Dhaka to demand his release.
Kabir is a highly respected columnist in Bangladeshi liberal circles. He is a regular contributor to the daily “Dainik Janakantha”. He has published several investigative books, notably about the 1971 war of independence and the massacres committed by the Pakistani army and its Bangladeshi allies. He has implicated Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders in these violent attacks.
