Police have been given three days to quiz the editor and publisher of the Daily Sangram Abul Asad in a case filed under Digital Security Act after the newspaper ran a report describing executed war criminal and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Molla a ‘martyr’.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Dhiman Chandra Mandal passed the order on Saturday (Dec 14) after police produced him before it seeking a five-day remand.
Earlier in the day, Abul Asad was shown arrested in the case.
Freedom Fighter Mohammad Afzal filed the lawsuit with the capital’s Hatirjheel police late on Friday (Dec 13), DMP Tejgaon Deputy Commissioner Biplob Bijoy Talukdar told Bangla Tribune.
The Daily Sangram, known as the mouthpiece of Islamist party Jamaat, ran a story on its Thursday (Dec 12) issue, in which it termed Quader Molla a ‘martyr’.
On Dec 12, 2013, known as the 'Butcher of Mirpur', Quader Molla was executed for crimes against humanity including the massacre of unarmed civilians and the killing of intellectuals committed during the War of Independence in 1971.
The report sparked protest in Dhaka. Freedom fighters descendants’ platform, Muktijuddho Mancha demonstrated in front of the daily’s Magbagar office in the capital on Friday demanding action against the daily.
Following the demonstration, the editor of the daily had been taken to the police custody for quizzing.
Meanwhile, several senior ministers, including Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq and Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader, on Saturday assured that the government would take punitive actions against the Bangla daily.
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Calling hanged war criminal a ‘martyr’ sparks protest in Dhaka
