Facebook Posts Trigger More Arrests in Bangladesh, Worrying Netizens

By Rezwan

Two people were arrested on May 14 and 15, for comments they had posted on Facebook. The arrests have sparked indignation and concern on social media.

The arrest of poet Henry Swapon

On May 14, poet and journalist Henry Swapon was arrested at his home in Barishal city, located in south central Bangladesh. He has been accused of violating Bangladesh’s Digital Security Act.

A member of the small local Christian community, Swapon was previously sued, along with two brothers Alfred and Jewel Sarkar, for “hurting religious sentiments of both Christians and Muslims” on social media.

Bangladeshi poet and editor Henry Swapan was arrested, under digital security act law! #freethepoet #bangladesh #bangladeshiblogger #FreedomOfSpeech pic.twitter.com/MGoCec2nsR

— Shammi Haque (@shammi121) May 15, 2019

According to the Dhaka Tribune, Swapon wrote a post on Facebook criticizing Lawrence Subrata Howlader, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Barishal. The Bishop had elected to hold a scheduled cultural program at a local Catholic church on April 22, 2019, the day after the terror attacks in Sri Lanka. Swapon felt the Bishop should have postponed the festivities out of respect for hundreds of people killed in the attacks.

Other Christians were angry about the tone he took with the Bishop and some even sent him death threats. Swapon has been vocal in social media against all the injustices and corruption in his town.

Netizen Swakrito Noman wrote on Facebook:

The arrest of lawyer Imtiaz Mahmood

On the morning of 15 May, police arrested supreme court lawyer and writer Imtiaz Mahmud in a case filed in 2017 under the country’s now-defunct Information and Communication Technology Act, in which a private citizen, Shafiqul Islam, alleged that one of Mahmood’s Facebook posts had hurt religious sentiments and incited communal violence in Bangladesh’s southeastern Chittagong region.

Imtiaz Mahmood secured an anticipatory bail when the case was originally brought, but a Khagrachhari court issued another arrest warrant against him in January 2019.

Mahmood had commented on ethnic tensions that arose after a Bengali motorcyclist was killed in Khagrachhari, prompting a group of Bengalis to torch a number of houses and shops of the indigenous people in the Rangamati area of Chittagong. Local sources told the Dhaka Tribune that police had taken no measures to control the situation.

Hundreds of similar lawsuits were filed from 2013 until 2018, when the ICT Act was effectively replaced by the Digital Security Act.

Bangladesh crackdown on social media. Police have made a second arrest in less than a day under Digital Security Act. Writer Imtiaz Mahmood was arrested in a case over ICT act on Wednesday morning. #Freedomofexpression #ICTLawhttps://t.co/eH8H38unCr

— Tuhin Das (@tuhinaronna) May 15, 2019

Writer Meher Afroz Shaon posted on Facebook:

Many netizens have expressed condemnation against both arrests, with some demanding that the law should be repealed.

Expat Bangladeshi Leesa Gazi tweeted:

Absolutely shameful.
The Bangladesh government cannot ensure public safety but prompt to arrest people under the repressive Digital Security Act which is, by the way, against the very spirit of the constitution of Bangladesh. https://t.co/1sFKY10OPV

— Leesa Gazi (@LeesaGazi) May 15, 2019

Journalist Probhash Amin wrote on Facebook:

Despite concerns about its implications for freedom of expression, the Bangladeshi parliament approved the Digital Security Act in September 2018. The law replaced the notorious Information and  Technology Act, which had also been used as a tool for silencing critical speech online.

The Act criminalizes various types of online speech, ranging from defamatory messages to speech that “injures religious values or sentiments” introducing hefty fines. It also authorizes lengthy prison sentences for using the internet to create public unrest, and for “gathering, sending or preserving” classified government documents using a digital device. The Editors’ Council of Bangladesh said that the Act is “against the freedom guaranteed by the constitution, media freedom and freedom of speech.”

The Act also provides absolute power to law enforcement agencies to initiate investigations of anyone whose activities are deemed harmful or threatening.

Rezwan — I am from Dhaka, Bangladesh and I have been blogging at The 3rd world view since 2003. I have been bridgeblogging the Bangladeshi and South Asian Blogosphere in Global Voices since 2005. As the translator coordinator for the Global Voices Bangla Lingua I love translating selected Global Voices posts into my mother tongue Bangla. Follow me at @rezwan.

Top image: Poet Henry Swapon and lawyer Imtiaz Mahmood. Collage from photos shared widely on social media.

This article was sourced from GlobalVoices.org

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