Chittagong University teacher Maidul Islam remanded for 3 days in ICT case

Police got three days to grill Maidul Islam, a teacher of Chittagong University, who was arrested under section 57 of ICT Act for making derogatory remarks about the prime minister on Facebook.

The court of senior judicial magistrate Shahidullah Kaiser issued the order after hearing the state on Monday. 

“Police sought a five-day remand for questioning and the court granted them three days,” Inspector (Prosecution) Bijon Kumar Barua of district police told bdnews24.com.

“Being a university teacher, he made derogatory remarks about the prime minister on Facebook. What will students learn? That question was part of our petition”, he said.

Lawyer Bhulan Lal Bhowmik, who represented Islam in the court, told bdnews24.com that, they sought to dismiss the remand order based on the appeal with the High Court for his bail. 

“The court rejected it. Following instructions from the High Court, the magistrate granted a three-day remand for questioning.” 

Former Chhatra League leader Iftekharul Islam filed a case on Jul 23 with Hathazari Police Station under section 57 of ICT Act against Islam after Maidul Islam allegedly made derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Facebook while expressing support for the quota protestors.

The Chhatra League declared Islam and Kh Ali-Ar-Raji, a teacher of journalism at Chittagong University, ‘unwelcome’ on the campus for posting on Facebook in solidarity with the quota protestors.

Alamgir Tipu, president of a now-defunct committee of Chhatra League, has submitted a memorandum to the Chittagong University vice-chancellor demanding the dismissal of the both teachers.

Islam had appealed for security to the proctor over the threats from Chhatra League leaders and activists. In that situation, he had received interim bail from the High Court on Aug 6.

After the end of this eight-week long bail period, Islam attended a hearing at the Chattogram District and Sessions Judge to appeal for bail on Sep 24. The court rejected the appeal and sent him to jail.

The Chittagong University administration temporarily suspended him on Sep 25.