Four Bangladeshi bloggers were indicted on Sunday by a court in Dhaka on charges of making “derogatory comments about Islam and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)” on the social media.
The police had arrested bloggers Asif Mohiuddin, Moshiur Rahman Biplob, Subrata Adhikari Shuvo and Russel Parvez in April on the charge of hurting religious sentiments.
After framing the charges, Metropolitan Session Judge’s Court Judge Md Zahirul Haque fixed November 6 for starting the trial of two cases against the four bloggers, who are now on bail and have pleaded not guilty and demanded justice.
If convicted, the bloggers may face up to 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of 10 million Taka (approximately US $125,000).
Since the death of blogger Ahmed Rajib in Dhaka on February 15, a leader of the Bangladesh’s Shahbag Square movement, a series of blog posts described as anti-Islamic have circulated but their authors have not been uncovered so far.
