Siam Sarower Jamil
Dhaka, Aug 1: A journalist of a Bangladeshi regional newspaper has been detained in a case filed under Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act.
Abdul Latif Morol of Daily Prabaha was detained from his residence in Dumuria upazila of Khulna district around 2:30am on Tuesday.
On Monday, another local journalist of Jessore’s Daily Spondhon Subroto Fouzder filed the case with Dumuria police station accusing of defaming a lawmaker in a Facebook post.
Confirming the matter to the Imphal Times, Officer of Dumuria police station Shukumar Biswas said: “Abdul has been sent to jail.”
According to the case, Abdul Abdul allegedly criticised State Minister of Fisheries and Livestock Narayan Chandra Chanda regarding the death of some livestock and poultry which was distributed among deprived people by the minister.
Earlier on July 14, a teacher of Dhaka University filed a case against one of his colleagues under Section 57.
Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act stipulates that any post, image, or video on an electronic format that “causes to deteriorate law and order, prejudice the image of the state or person or hurt religious beliefs” are non-bailable offences.
The punishment is a minimum seven years in prison and up to a maximum of 14 years. The fines can go up to Tk1 crore.
Numerous journalists, students and teachers have been imprisoned under Section 57.
The act has been called draconian in its implementation and criticised for how it can be interpreted by law enforcement agencies.