A court in Dhaka on Monday denied bail to Odhikar secretary Adilur Rahman Khan in connection with a general diary in which he was arrested on August 10.
Acting metropolitan sessions judge Ruhul Amin rejected the petition filed by Adilur seeking in the general diary the police filed with the Gulshan police on August 10.Moving the petition, defence counsel Asaduzzaman argued that Adilur had been detained illegally for more than a month, although the law allowed no detention for more than 15 days under a general diary.
On September 5, chief metropolitan magistrate Bikas Kumar Shaha transferred the case to the newly formed Cyber Crimes Tribunal for trial, as the Detective Branch of police on September 4 pressed charges against detained Odhikar secretary Adilur and its director ASM Nasiruddin Elan.
Detective Branch inspector Ashraful Islam submitted the charge sheet before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court after investigation into a general diary filed with Gulshan police station on August 10.
In the charge sheet, the investigator pressed charges against Adilur and Elan for publishing ‘false’ report and doctored photos on the death toll in the police action the Hefajat men.
The investigation officer pressed the charges under Section 57(1) of the Information and Communication Technology Act 2006 and Section 505(c) of the Penal Code.
Section 57(1) of the Information and Communication Technology Act stipulates that a person would commit an offence if the person intentionally publish or disseminate anything on website or in any electronic from that may cause defamation of any people, damage to the image of the state or any person or hurt any religious sentiment.
The offence is punishable with imprisonment for 10 year or with a fine of Tk 1 crore or with both.
Section 505(c) of the Penal Code stipulates, ‘Whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report with intent to incite, or which is likely to incite, any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both.’
Odikhar in one of its recent reports claimed that 61 people were killed in the police drive against Hefajat men on May 5 and early May 6.
On August 10, a Detective Branch team picked up Adilur while he was entering his Gulshan house in the night.
A CMM court on August 11 had remanded Adilur in custody for five days for interrogation but the High Court had halted the remand and ordered him to prison..
-With New Age input
