High Court acquits Tangail schoolboy who was jailed over 'Facebook remarks' on AL MP

The High Court has acquitted a schoolboy from Tangail’s Sakhipur after cancelling his two-year jail term that was awarded to him by a mobile court for allegedly making some remarks on Facebook regarding a local MP.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 18 Oct 2016, 10:13 AM
Updated : 18 Oct 2016, 11:11 AM

The court has also directed the public administration and home ministries and the inspector general of police to withdraw Sakhipur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, also an executive magistrate, and Sakhipur police OC Md Maksudul Alam, respectively.
 
The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das gave the order on Tuesday after finishing the hearing on their suo moto rule on the matter.
 
The court also ordered the chief judicial magistrate of Tangail to launch a judicial inquiry based on the statement given by the ninth grader.
 
The bench on Sep 20 had granted the boy permanent bail and summoned the UNO and the OC after Supreme Court lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan placed before them a news report on the schoolboy’s jailing.​

After the verdict on Tuesday, Khan told reporters, “The punishment that was given (the mobile court) was illegal and outside of legal authority. That’s why the court cancelled it.”
 
He said apart from their withdrawal order, the court also directed the home and public administration ministries and the IGP to place the Sakhipur UNO and police OC outside Dhaka division to ensure fair investigation.
 
According to media reports, the Awami League MP of Tangail-8 constituency Anupom Shahjahan Joy had lodged a General Diary (GD) with Sakhipur police on the night of Sep 16, alleging that he was threatened from a Facebook profile.
 
Based on the lawmaker’s GD, police detained that schoolboy from the Upazila’s Pratima Banki area and produced him before the mobile court on Sep 18. Executive Magistrate Rafiqul Islam later sentenced the student to two years in jail.
 
The next morning, OC Maksudul Alam transferred the teenager to Tangail District Jail.
 
After the verdict, the boy’s father told reporters that his son was unjustly punished and the High Court cancelled it. “I want my son to be safe now. We are poor and helpless. We should be allowed to have him finish his study in Tangail.”