IT entrepreneur AKM Fahim Mashroor, who has served as the chief of the industry’s top trade body, has been detained on charges of spreading false information on the cyberspace in the wake of the protests demanding reforms to quotas in public service.
The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC) have picked him from his offices at capital Dhaka’s Karwan Bazar on Wednesday, a CTTC officer told Bangla Tribune.
He has been held in a case filed under the ICT Act’s Section 57, which criminalises ‘publication of fake, obscene or defaming information in electronic form’.
An offence under this provision of the Act is punishable by at least seven years to a maximum 14 years imprisonment. Fines can be as high as Tk 10 million.
Mashroor has been accused of propaganda and instigating instability through his social media posts.
On Apr 22, a case was started with police by Al Sadique, a former leader of the Bangladesh Chhatara League’s (BCL) Dhaka University unit.
BCL is the ruling Awami League’s student affiliate.
According to the case documents, Mashroor uploaded defaming pictures of the prime minister as well as disseminated false and fabricated information on Facebook instigating instability amid protests by students and job-seekers demanding reforms to quotas in government jobs.
Sadique attached several screenshots of Mashroor’s Facebook posts in his complaint filed with the Kafrul Police Station in Dhaka.
Mashroor, a former president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), was elected a member of the body’s executive committee in polls held in March.
The founder of Bangladesh’s first job site bdjobs.com has been honoured as the Entrepreneur of the Year by the SME Foundation.
The ICT Act’s Section 57 has drawn criticism for effectively muzzling the freedom of speech and expression.
Rights activists and journalists have termed it ‘draconian’ saying it can be widely misused.