DHAKA: Bangladesh’s high court granted bail on Sunday to Matiur Rahman, one of the country’s most respected editors, after he was charged under a controversial digital law. Matiur Rahman, 78, the editor of the Bengali-language daily Prothom Alo, requested bail after a lawyer filed a case against him and a reporter last week under the Digital Security Act.
The law has been criticised by the United Nations and human rights groups as a tool to crack down on dissent and harass journalists in retaliation for their work.
“He was granted six weeks of bail,” Rahman’s lawyer Z I Khan Panna told journalists outside the courthouse. The case against Rahman and reporter Shamsuzzaman Shams stems from a March 26 story on Bangladesh’s Independence Day that quoted ordinary people on their struggles to afford basic necessities. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
