Bangladesh tribunal jails ex-leader of Hindu group for 7 years over blasphemy

Rakesh Roy was a leader of Hindu Mohajote’s Sylhet unit

Besides the jail term under section 57 of the ICT Act, which was morphed into the Digital Security Act, Rakesh Roy was fined Tk 100,000.

A Sylhet tribunal has sentenced a former leader of a Hindu group to seven years in jail on charges of blasphemy over a Facebook post allegedly insulting Islam five years ago .

Judge Abul Kashem of the divisional cyber tribunal handed the sentence on Tuesday, said state lawyer Mostafa Dilwar Al Azhar.

The convict, Rakesh Roy, 43, was the organising secretary of Hindu Mohajote’s Sylhet Division unit.

Mostafa said Rakesh was arrested on Jun 7, 2017 after the case was filed earlier that month over his social media post. Eight witnesses testified in the tribunal.

Besides the jail term under section 57 of the ICT Act, which was morphed into the Digital Security Act, Rakesh was fined Tk 100,000.

Mostafa said the convict had been on bail and was sent to prison following the sentencing.

Ishtiaque Ahmed Chowdhury, the lawyer for Rakesh, said they would appeal against verdict in the High Court because they were not happy with it.