Bangladesh police said Tuesday they had arrested a senior journalist for “defaming” a government minister on Facebook, the latest in a series of cases that have sparked concern over freedom of speech.
Probir Sikdar, editor of an online news portal, was arrested in Dhaka on Monday after posting that his life was in danger and that the minister should be “held responsible” if he died.
The 55-year-old journalist was taken to the central town of Faridpur, where he was charged under a controversial law and remanded in custody for three days.
“Sikdar was sued under the Information and Communication Technology Act of Bangladesh for defaming a minister on social media,” Faridpur police chief Jamil Hasan told AFP.
Rights activists held demonstrations against his arrest in Dhaka, demanding the government scrap Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act, which criminalises publishing information online that could “prejudice the image of the state”.
“This section of the Internet act is draconian and conflicts with Bangladesh’s identity as a democratic nation,” activist Imran H Sarker told AFP.
“It should be abolished as soon as possible to defend the freedom of speech.”
A Bangladeshi court last week convicted a publisher of a leading newspaper and his deputy for contempt of court over criticism of a judge.
