(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is protesting the arrests of Mufti Abdul Hye, publisher of the monthly “Jago Mujahid”, and Manzur Ahmed, executive editor of the same magazine. On 18 November 1998, plainclothes police officers raided the editorial office of “Jago Mujahid” in Dhaka. The magazine had published articles encouraging Bangladeshi Muslims to launch an armed revolution […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is protesting the arrests of Mufti Abdul Hye, publisher of
the monthly “Jago Mujahid”, and Manzur Ahmed, executive editor of the same
magazine.
On 18 November 1998, plainclothes police officers raided the editorial
office of “Jago Mujahid” in Dhaka. The magazine had published articles
encouraging Bangladeshi Muslims to launch an armed revolution modeled after
the Taliban movement in Afghanistan, and had reprinted a newspaper interview
with Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi billionaire accused by the United States of
supporting an international terrorist network. Officers seized the August,
September, and October 1998 issues of the magazine, as well as photographs
and wall calendars depicting Taliban guerrillas and other Islamic militants.
Police arrested Hye and Ahmed under the broad provisions of Bangladesh’s
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. Police have said they intend to keep Ahmed and Hye in
detention for 30 days.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
protections
transparent fashion, making the charges a matter of public record, and
presenting the evidence for such claims before an open court, if Ahmed and
Hye are suspected of engaging in criminal activity
Ahmed,
and to make public any charges against them
can be used to undermine the right of citizens to freely exchange
information and opinion.
Appeals To
Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina Wajed
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Fax: +880 2 813 244
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
