Cybercrime trial of Adilur, Elan to go ahead

The High Court has rejected the petition of Odhikar’s Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan and Director Nasiruddin Elan against their indictment under the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Act.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 Jan 2017, 08:39 AM
Updated : 9 Jan 2017, 08:39 AM

There are no more barriers to the start of the trial, said the state prosecutor.

A High Court bench of Justices M Enayetur Rahim and Shahidul Karim gave the order after a hearing of the defendants’ petition on Monday.

Barrister Rokonuddin Mahmud and Advocate Asaduzzaman represented the defence at the hearing, while Deputy Attorney General Farhad Khan represented the government.

The two rights activists have been charged with distorting facts and presenting false evidence against security forces on May 5, 2013.

An Odhikar report claimed 61 people had been killed during a raid by police and other security forces at Motijheel’s Shapla Chattar, where

Hifazat-e Islam supporters were on an indefinite sit-in.

The report allegedly distorted facts, doctored pictures used in reports with the help of Photoshop and passed off a living person as dead.

Police claimed there were no casualties during the action.

Adilur, a former Deputy Attorney General during the last BNP-Jamaat alliance government, was arrested on Aug 10 and was later released on bail.

Elan turned himself in on Nov 6 after an arrest warrant was issued against him. He too was released on bail.

The case claims that, by spreading false and misleading news, the two tried to manipulate religious sentiment to destabilise the government.

On Sep 4, 2013, Detective Police (Dhaka Branch) Director Ashraful Alam filed a chargesheet against the two at the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

Both were accused of creating instability under the ICT Act and also of inciting religious tensions.

The next day the case was transferred to the Dhaka Cyber Crime Tribunal.

On Jan 8, 2014, the two were indicted by Justice KM Shamsul Alam under section 57 of the ICT Act.

The two defendants then filed a petition in the High Court to stop the trial.

On Monday the High Court rejected the appeal against the indictment during the final hearing.