On August 5, Shahidul Alam, an award-winning photographer and social activist, streamed videos on Facebook, criticising the Bangladesh government for its handling of students’ protests for safe roads. Hours later in an interview with Al Jazeera, Mr. Alam said larger issues such as extra-judicial killings, forced disappearances and corruption came into play in the protests. “It’s a never-ending list. It’s huge. It’s really that pent-up energy, emotion and anger that have been let loose.”
Mr. Alam also took a jibe at Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, citing the previous student protests against the unfair quota system for government jobs. He claimed that she lost “credibility” as the promises to reform the quota system were not kept. Mr. Alam alleged that the “police specifically asked for help from armed goons to combat unarmed students”.
Hours later, a group of policemen, all in plain clothes, arrived on his doorstep in the Dhaka neighbourhood of Dhanmondi, locked up his guards in a room and dragged him into a waiting van. His wife, Rahnuma Ahmed, rushed down the stairs hearing him crying for help, but the van carrying him and two other vehicles sped away into the dark. The next day, the detective branch of the police confirmed that Mr. Alam was in its custody, waiting for a court appearance.
Stifling freedom of expression
The police charged him with “spreading fantastical and provocative lies to create panic” under the controversial Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act. If he is proved guilty, he could be jailed for as many as 14 years. Later in the day, police took him to court in Old Dhaka barefoot. At the court building, he told the waiting reporters that he was tortured in custody and that police had forced him to wash the blood from his clothes and wear them again. The government rejected his claim. “Contrary to recent reports, no evidence exists that Shahidul Alam was tortured while in police custody,” said Sajeeb Wazed, ICT affairs adviser to Prime Minister Hasina and her son.
As a Dhaka court allowed the police to question Mr. Alam for seven days in their custody, condemnation poured in from around the world. Civil society leaders and human rights campaigners demanded his freedom.
Mr. Alam spent his first night in remand on August 6. The next morning, Kamal Hossain, a prominent lawyer, and his daughter Sara Hossain stood by him in the High Court, securing an order for his quick transfer to a government hospital from the police remand. But doctors at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University concluded that his health condition did not warrant hospitalisation and sent him back into custody.
The Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) seized the moment. “The government hospital doesn’t provide health services for those who have dissenting views,” BNP’s senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said.
A second court order followed after the submission of a hospital report on Mr. Alam’s health. Two High Court judges asked the Home Secretary to check if he was tortured physically or mentally in police custody, and report back. The arrest sparked a torrent of protests both at home and abroad.
India’s celebrated photographer Raghu Rai, who has been honoured by the Bangladesh government for his coverage of the 1971 Liberation War, wrote an open letter to Ms. Hasina, calling upon her not to punish Mr. Alam. His friend, however, is still waiting for his release.
Arun Devnath is a journalist based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
