(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 30 November 2000 letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, CPJ stated that it is deeply disturbed by her administration’s multi-pronged attack against the Bengali-language daily newspaper “Inqilab”, which has been accused of treason for publishing a parody of the Bangladesh national anthem. M. Mainuddin, director of the Inqilab Group of Publications, […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 30 November 2000 letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, CPJ stated that it is deeply disturbed by her administration’s multi-pronged attack against the Bengali-language daily
newspaper “Inqilab”, which has been accused of treason for publishing a parody of the Bangladesh national anthem.
M. Mainuddin, director of the Inqilab Group of Publications, is currently in jail under Bangladesh’s notorious Special Powers Act. “Inqilab” editor A.M.M. Bahauddin and publisher A.S.M. Baki Billah face multiple treason charges, as does the author of the parody, A.S. Mosharraf. Prime Minister Hasina’s government has exerted considerable pressure on the judiciary to deny these journalists’ petitions for anticipatory bail.
Finally, leaders from the ruling Awami League have actively encouraged party activists to block distribution of “Inqilab” throughout the country, and have sanctioned the use of violence to achieve this end.
“Inqilab”, which promotes Islamist principles and is opposed to the government’s secular policies, is one of the highest-circulation newspapers in Bangladesh. On 20 October, the paper published a parody of the national anthem that mocked Prime Minister Hasina’s administration.
On 6 November, the Awami League Working Committee met at Prime Minister Hasina’s
residence and decided to take action against “Inqilab”. Within days, various Awami League leaders had filed treason charges against “Inqilab” in districts around the country. Currently, cases are pending in the capital city of Dhaka, as well as in Jamalpur, Madaripur, Mymensingh, Magura, and Chandpur. (On 28 November, a High Court judge stayed the bulk of these cases for one month.)
On 13 November, the Home Ministry filed its own complaint with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Dhaka, accusing Bahauddin, Baki Billah, and Mosharraf of sedition under Section 124A of the Penal Code. Arrest warrants were issued that same day. Under the Penal Code, people found guilty of sedition can be sentenced to life in prison, or even death.
Shortly before midnight (local time), police raided the Dhaka offices of “Inqilab”, as well as the residences of the paper’s editor and publisher, but failed to find the journalists. But the next morning, on 14 November, police arrested Mainuddin, the head of the Inqilab Group and the brother of Bahauddin and Baki Billah, under the broad provisions of the Special Powers Act (SPA), which allows for the arbitrary arrest and detention of any citizen suspected of engaging in activities that threaten national security. Under the SPA, detainees can be held for up to three months without a court hearing, and police are not required to file formal charges against them. As of 30 November, Mainuddin remained in Dhaka Central Jail.
Bahauddin, fearing imminent arrest, applied for anticipatory bail that evening. At 11:40 p.m. on 14 November, a High Court Division of the Supreme Court granted ad-interim bail to Bahauddin until 20 November, when a second hearing was scheduled for the government to defend its argument that the bail application should be denied.
Senior administration officials, including Prime Minister Hasina, vehemently criticized the High Court’s action and publicly questioned the propriety of the unprecedented late-night session. CPJ sources in Bangladesh say the ruling party has applied pressure on judges and defense lawyers to dissuade them from supporting
“Inqilab” in this case.
Bahauddin is now free on bail until 5 December, and police have made no further attempts to arrest Baki Billah and Mosharraf. But all three men remain vulnerable to arrest in the future.
Meanwhile, there have been a series of attacks designed to curb the circulation of “Inqilab”. On 20 November, Abdul Hasnat Abdullah, an Awami League official, announced at a meeting organized by party officials in the southern town of Barisal that “Inqilab” was banned in the southern region. The next day, 900 copies of the newspaper were burnt by Awami League activists in Barisal, according to a report published in “The Independent”, a Dhaka-based national daily. Local distributors of the newspaper were also threatened and harassed.
On 22 November, Awami League activists stopped a delivery van at the Shikarpur ferry landing, on the Dhaka-Barisal highway, and burned 4,000 copies of “Inqilab”, as well as 400 copies of the weekly “Purnima”, which is also published by the Inqilab Group. On 28 November, a mob attacked the “Inqilab” office in Khulna, damaged a press vehicle parked outside, and harassed a local newspaper agent for distributing the paper.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the prime minister:
– condemning her government’s persecution of “Inqilab”
– respectfully urging her to order the immediate release of Mainuddin, who has been wrongfully detained under a vague and, in your view, illegitimate statute
– suggesting that if Mainuddin is suspected of criminal activity, then the authorities should file formal charges against him and present evidence in an open court
– further urging her to instruct the Home Ministry to drop the government-initiated sedition case against Bahauddin, Baki Billah, and Mosharraf, noting that you believe that no journalist should go to jail for what he or she writes
– stating that as the leader of the Awami League, Her Excellency is responsible for ensuring that the party does not countenance abuses committed by its members
– adding that in your view, Bangladesh’s national security is threatened far more by the vigilante tactics detailed above than by the publication of political satire
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina
Prime Minister, People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Prime Minister
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Fax: +88 02 811 3244
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
