According to the information received, on November 15, 2018, the High Court in Dhaka granted bail to Mr. Shahidul Alam. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said that he would appeal the High Court’s decision to grant Mr. Shahidul Alam bailbefore the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
The Observatory welcomes the release on bail of Mr. Shahidul Alam, but remains deeply concerned by the ongoing judicial harassment against him, which clearly aims at punishing him for his peaceful and legitimate human rights activities.
The Observatory urges the authorities of Bangladesh to end all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against him and all human rights defenders in the country.
Background information:
On August 5, 2018 at around 10.30 pm, Mr. Shahidul Alam was forcibly taken from his house in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, by a group of men in plain clothes, who identified themselves as officers of the Detective Branch (DB) of police. Mr. Shahidul Alam’s house was searched and all the CCTV cameras were destroyed.
His whereabouts remained unknown until August 6, 2018, when Mr. Shahidul Alam was brought to the Dhaka court by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Noor, where he was interrogated regarding allegations that he gave false information to the media and for so-called “provocative comments”. These accusations were related to Mr. Shahidul Alam’s Al Jazeera interview and Facebook posts in which he criticized the acts of violence committed by members of the ruling party’s youth wings against student activist during largely peaceful demonstrations for road safety in Dhaka in August 2018. Mr. Shahidul Alam also condemned the security forces’ failure to protect the student activists from the violence.
Mr. Shahidul Alam was accused of “spreading propaganda” and “false information” against the Government.
On August 6, he was remanded to custody for seven days in a case filed under Section 57 of the ICT Act, which over the past years has been used to arrest and prosecute several journalists who have criticised the Government. If convicted, he could face a prison sentence of at least seven years[1].
During the August 6, 2018 hearing, Mr. Shahidul Alam reported he was tortured in custody, and was not able to walk without support. According to his own words, the police officers made him wash his bloodied clothes before making him wear them again. Mr. Alam subsequently filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking a medication examination. As per the High Court directive, a medical report was submitted before a trial court, but the court gave no further order.
On August 12, 2018, a Dhaka court sent Mr. Shahidul Alam to jail, after police produced him before the court on completion of his seven-day interrogation.
Since his arrest, Mr. Shahidul Alam had been denied bail at least five times.
How You Can Help
Please write to the authorities in Bangladesh, urging them to:
i. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Shahidul Alam as well as of all human rights defenders in Bangladesh;
ii. Immediately release Mr. Shahidul Alam from jail;
iii. Guarantee Mr. Shahidul Alam’s right to due process and fair trial, as protected under international law;
iv. Put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Shahidul Alam, as well as of all human rights defenders in Bangladesh and ensure that they are able to carry out their activities without hindrance;
v. Carry out a transparent, impartial, immediate and thorough investigation into the above-mentioned allegations of ill-treatment in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before an independent tribunal, and sanction them as provided by the law;
vi. Conform in all circumstances to the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly, in particular its Articles 1 and 12.2.;
vii. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights instruments ratified by Bangladesh.
