Bangladesh police on Wednesday arrested a journalist from an influential newspaper on charges of spreading false news under the controversial Digital Security Act, authorities said.
Home Secretary Asaduzzaman Khan said Samsuzzaman Shams was arrested over a report published in Prothom Alo newspaper on March 26, Independence Day.
The report, written by Shams, quotes a day laborer as saying that the country’s independence means little to him while he struggles to survive due to high inflation and other reasons. Some other media outlets questioned the photo that accompanied the story, saying it appeared staged. The Prothom Alo revised the story and photo.
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The article was widely circulated on social media and appears to have embarrassed the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who say they are helping Bangladesh move from least-developed to developing country status.
Khan said the report was “false, fabricated and poorly motivated,” but authorities did not immediately explain how it was inaccurate.
A prominent Bangladeshi journalist has been arrested for spreading misinformation in a Sunday report, although government officials are yet to clarify why. (Fox News)
Prothom Alo said Shams was arrested in a raid at his home in suburban Dhaka early Wednesday and his laptop and two phones were confiscated.
The country’s main opposition group, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, immediately criticized the government for the arrest.
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“I don’t understand what crime the journalist committed,” said party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. “I strongly condemn the detention of Shasuzzaman Shams and call for his immediate and unconditional release.”
The case was brought under the Digital Security Act by a man reportedly from the youth wing of Hasina’s ruling Awami League party. Journalists and human rights groups oppose the law, saying it is being used to repress dissidents and those criticizing the government.
The government says the law, enacted in 2018, is necessary to combat misinformation, disinformation and attempts to undermine people’s rights.
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New York-based group Human Rights Watch said the law “deals a blow to freedom of expression.”
Source : www.foxnews.com