Posts Tagged ‘Bangladesh’
March 26th, 2012
A Bangladesh court last week ordered government authorities to
shut down five Facebook pages and a website for blasphemous content. Judges at the high court in Dhaka ordered the telecommunications regulator, home ministry officials and police to block the offending content after two university lecturers filed a lawsuit complaining that the pages and the site were hurting people’s religious sentiments. The pages were deemed to contain “disparaging remarks and cartoons” about the Prophet Mohammed, Jesus, the Koran, Lord Buddha and Hindu gods. In 2010, Facebook was
temporarily blocked on charges of malicious propaganda against the Prime Minister and hurting religious feelings.
February 13th, 2012
Two
Bangladeshi television journalists have
been murdered in Dhaka. Sagar Sarwar, news editor for private TV station Maasranga, and his wife, Meherun Runi, from another private station ATN Bangla were stabbed to death in the early hours of Saturday morning. The well known couple were found by their five-year-old son, who called relatives living nearby. A senior detective told local newspapers that preliminary investigations suggested that the killings had been planned and that the couple had probably known their attackers.
November 25th, 2011
The news editor of an online news agency has
been released on bail after being held for nearly four months. Ekramul Haq, the editor of recently closed Sheershanews.com, was released from jail in
Dhaka at around 4pm, local time, after he was granted bail by the lower court. Haq was arrested on suspicion of extorting Tk 20 lakh (around £17,000) from Chittagong businessman Gias Uddin Talukdar on July 30.
September 12th, 2011
Bangladesh‘s government has passed
a new broadcast law which will censor TV programmes and movies. The law, which will go into effect in three months’ time, prevents the broadcasting of content depicting non-Muslim holidays, as well as “kiss scenes” in films on foreign channels.
August 10th, 2011
Muhammad Ekramul Haque, editor and owner of
Sheershanews.com and
Sheersha Kagoj, was arrested on 31 July by
Bangladeshi authorities on a charge of extortion.
According to police reports, Haque allegedly threatened to negatively cover a travel agency unless he received 200,000 TK (£1630).
In a press release, Sheershanews.com defended the editor, claiming that he was actually arrested for publishing reports on government corruption. The press release also denies the existence of the travel agency.
June 14th, 2011
At least 50 anti-government protesters were jailed in
Bangladesh yesterday after the authorities broke up the second general strike staged this month. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Islamic fundamentalist group, Jamaat-e-Islami, are
oppposing the planned abolition of a law which requires the government to hand over power to a neutral party for polling once their administration is over. Protesters observing the 36-hour strike have been
jailed for up to a month for “creating public disturbance” in the capital, Dhaka.
July 3rd, 2010
Shaheda Yesmin, the wife of Shamsher M. Chowdhury appeals for help from the United Nations. Chowdhury, a UN commissioner and the country’s former Foreign Secretary has been arrested on arson charges that his family say are politically motivated
Kingston Rhodes
Chairman
United Nations, International Civil Service Commission
New York
Dear Chairman
On the morning of 27th June 2010 my husband Shamsher M. Chowdhury, who has been a commissioner of the ICSC since 2005, was suddenly arrested by the government of Bangladesh on false and concocted charges. He was taken to prison and after appearing in court on 30th June, was released on bail. As he was preparing to return home, another totally false and concocted case has been lodged against him today, 1st July 2010, and he has been detained in prison again.
Mr. Rhodes, the whole episode is part of a campaign of political persecution against my husband. For the last one year, the government of Bangladesh has been trying to get Shamsher M. Chowdhury’s membership of ICSC cancelled on one pretext or another. Since he was elected by the General Assembly and by name, technically the government can’t do anything about it.
Hence, it has started to politically persuade him and try to bar him from attending the 71st session of the ICSC which will be held in New York on 26th July. He is expected to arrive New York on 21st July, for which the UN has already issued him his air ticket. He has also booked his accommodation in a hotel in New York for this purpose.
It is also very likely that the government of Bangladesh will try to discredit him and force the UN to discontinue his membership of the ICSC. Mr. Chairman, the matter is indeed very serious. Not only is my husband being physically and mentally tortured, all attempts are being made to disgrace and discredit him for no fault of his own.
Mr. Chairman, Shamsher M. Chowdhury has the rank and status of an Under Secretary General of the United Nations being a commissioner of the UN ICSC. I therefore appeal to you that the Secretary General of the United Nations should immediately, I repeat, immediately intervene with the government at the highest level (Prime Minister) and ask for the release of Mr. Shamsher M. Chowdhury. Such an intervention is fully justified as Mr. Chowdhury is currently working for the United Nations in an elected capacity. In his appeal to the government of Bangladesh, Secretary General should also strongly mention that Mr. Shamsher M. Chowdhury has a major physical handicap and his continued incarceration under extreme hard and inhuman conditions which tamp amount to physical torture and causing hardship to a handicapped individual.
Mr. Chairman, given the seriousness of the matter, I seek your immediate necessary action so that the secretary general can intervene to not only end this persecution of an UN official but also put an end to this torture of a physically handicapped person immediately.
I am eagerly looking forward to hearing from you on this.
Yours Sincerely
Shaheda Yesmin
Wife of Shamsher M. Chowdhury
Commisioner UN ICSC
June 17th, 2010
Lawyers for “Amar Desh” editor Mahmudur Rahman have released this statement below, claiming that the editor of the
recently shut down Bangladeshi newspaper was tortured in police custody.
(more…)
