Cartoonist, journalist charged under Bangladesh’s Internet law

A renowned cartoonist and a Swedish-based journalist were among seven men indicted on Sunday under Bangladesh’s internet law which critics say is being used against opposition figures.

A court in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka has accepted formal charges brought by police under the digital security law against cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore and rights activist and journalist Tasneem Khalil, prosecutor Nazrul Islam said Shamim.

The men were charged with posting offensive and false information, defamation, and intentional posting of digital content that creates unrest or disturbance.

They face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.

“The court also issued arrest warrants for four of them who fled,” Shamim said. AFP.

Rights groups including Amnesty International say the law is being used to silence and intimidate critics of the government in the country of 169 million people.

Kishore, 45, said he was a “victim of injustice”.

“Drawing cartoons is not a crime,” he said AFP via a phone call after the announcement of charges.

Following street protests, Kishore was released on bail in March after being arrested in May last year on preliminary charges under Internet law.

Kishore said he was tortured before police arrested him.

He filed a petition with a court in Dhaka regarding the allegations of torture, which the police denied. There has been no decision on the petition to date.

Kishore said his alleged torturers asked about the cartoons he drew mocking a powerful businessman close to the government as well as a series criticizing the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr. Shamim did not detail the precise acts allegedly committed by the cartoonist.

Amnesty said in a July report that Bangladesh had at least 433 people detained under Internet law that month.

Most were being held for allegedly posting false and offensive information online, the global rights group added.