Drop case against journalist Dhruba: Front Line Defenders to Bangladesh

An international human rights organisation has urged Bangladesh authorities to immediately withdraw the case filed by a senior assistant judge against journalist Golam Mujtaba Dhruba.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Ireland-based Front Line Defenders also urged the government to “guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Bangladesh are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment.”

The Front Line Defenders also operates from Brussels.

About Dhruba it said “he is a human rights defender and a journalist working for the online news portal bdnews24.com. He has reported on the killings of secular bloggers, LGBT activists and human rights defenders in Bangladesh.”

He has also covered topics such as the “death penalty, religious extremism and human rights violations committed against people in police custody”.

With the statement, it created a full web page on its site under the headline “Golam Mujtaba Dhruba prosecuted under information and communication technology act.”

Front Line Defenders works to protect Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) around the world who are people working non-violently, for any or all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

About the case, the Front Line statement said: “On 13 June 2017, Manikganj Judge, Mahbubur Rahman, filed a case under section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act against human rights defender, Golam Mujtaba Dhruba, for an article he published on 11 June 2017.”

“The article reported on an argument which took place between court employees and a local family after a truck, rented by Judge Mahbubur in order to move his belongings, obstructed the road and prevented the family from driving their sick child to the hospital.

“In his case report, Senior Assistant Judge, Mahbubur Rahman, claimed that the journalist had manipulated the facts and threatened him over the phone,” it added.

Earlier, on Thursday, leaders of different journalists' associations demanded the withdrawal of the case against Dhruba within two days.

At a rally in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka, they threatened more agitations against the case filed by a judge under Section 57 of the ICT Act.