Award-winning photographer Shahidul Alam had taken the social media to incite violence during the student protest for safer roads, says Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the son of Prime Minister and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina.
“Because of Shahidul’s false posts and allegations students became enraged and attacked the police and our party office. Many policemen and several of our activists were injured,” he said in a Facebook post on Friday.
His post came five days after detectives picked up Alam from his city residence on Aug 5. Alam has been charged with spreading false information through social media under the ICT Act's Section 57.
Joy, who spearheads the ‘Digital Bangladesh’ campaign as the ICT affairs adviser to the PM, said, “As an accomplished and famous person in Bangladesh, during these past protests suppose I had made a series of sensational posts on Facebook claiming that our activists had been attacked and killed by youth outside a private university.”
“Then based on my posts our activists became enraged and attacked that university. Would I be guilty of inciting violence or am I be protected by freedom of speech?,” reads the post.
“I have no doubt that our so-called ‘civil society’ and the foreigners and journalists chiming in on Shahidul Alam's behalf would have headlined that the Prime Minister's son incited violence.”

“If Shahidul Alam is innocent only because he is accomplished and famous, then does that make me above the law as well since I am accomplished and famous too?,” Joy said before adding “Shahidul Alam did exactly what I gave as an example above.”
“One of them (who were injured), Arafatul Islam Bappy even lost his eyesight and is now permanently crippled. Does he not deserve justice?” he said in his post.