Bangladesh Seeks Stay on HC Verdict Granting Shahidul Alam Bail

Shahidul Alam granted bail after over 100 days in prison for speaking about Bangladesh student protest in interview.

Alam has been granted bail but not yet released.

(Photo:  Twitter)

Bangladesh government on Monday, 19 November filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking stay on the High Court verdict that granted permanent bail to acclaimed photographer Shahidul Alam, reported Daily Star.

The apex court is yet to fix any date for hearing the petition.

Almost three months after being arrested for giving an interview about the Bangladesh student protest, activist and senior photographer Shahidul Alam was granted bail on Thursday, November 15. In the span of these 102 days, Alam was denied bail five times.

Despite the bail, there has not been an immediate release but well-wishers are hopeful. In a chat with The Quint, photographer Ronny Sen said even though there are roadblocks, it is a good step.

In a chat with Ronny Sen he says even though there are roadblocks, it is a good step.(Photo Courtesy: Instagram)

According to reports by Al Jazeera, Shaidul Alam was picked up by the police on Sunday, 5 August for “provocative comments” after media interviews about the crackdown on student protesters. Shaidul Alam had said in a TV interview that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had no credibility and was using "brute force" to stay in power.

A day later, on 6 August, he was charged under Section 57 of Bangladesh’s Information Communications Technology Act, a broad law against any electronic communication that “depraves or corrupts” the image of the state.

Another voice of support for Alam is an open letter that renowned author Arundhati Roy penned for him.

In an excerpt from the letter, Roy expresses joy about his imprisonment as it was proof that at least he was not murdered.

“It’s been more than a hundred days now since they took you away. Times aren’t easy in your country or in mine, so when we first heard that unknown men had abducted you from your home, of course we feared the worst. Were you going to be “encountered” (our word in India for extra-judicial murder by security forces) or killed by “non-State actors”? Would your body be found in an alley, or floating in some shallow pond on the outskirts of Dhaka?”

Arundhati Roy

She goes on to commend his work and says that his arrest is a message for other people to remain silent. She then goes on to criticize Section 57 under which Alam is incarcerated.

Another excerpt:

“What sort of law is this, this absurd, indiscriminate, catch-all, fishing trawler type of law? What place does it have in a country that calls itself a democracy? Who has the right to decide what the correct “image of the State” is, and should be? Is there only one legally approved and acceptable image of Bangladesh?”

Arundhati Roy

She then adds how such attacks on journalists are getting normalised in India as well. She equates Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to Section 57 under which hundreds of people including students, activists, lawyers and academics are being arrested in wave after wave.

In another excerpt she talks about how general elections in both India and Bangladesh may spell more trouble for dissenting voices.

“As both our countries hurtle towards general elections, we know that we can expect more arrests, more lynching, more killing, more bloggers hacked to death... more false-flag “terrorist” strikes, more assassinations of journalists and writers. Elections, we know, means fire in the ducts.”

She ends with some optimism saying,

“Dear Shahidul, I believe the tide will turn. It will. It must. This foolish, shortsighted cruelty will give way to something kinder and more visionary. This particular malaise, this bout of ill-health that has engulfed our planet will pass.”

Arundhati Roy

Immediately after the arrest as well, there were a lot of voices that came out in his support. Activists, students, organisations like CPJ and Amnesty International were batting for Alam’s release.

“Shaidul Alam must be immediately and unconditionally released. There is no justification whatsoever for detaining anyone for solely peacefully expressing their views. His arrest marks a dangerous escalation of a crackdown by the government that has seen the police and vigilantes unleash violence against student protestors.”

Omar Waraich, Amnesty International’s Deputy South Asia Director.

Shaidul Alam had said in a TV interview that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had no credibility.(Photo Courtesy: Arafatul Islam/Altered by The Quint)

Where Did it Start?

Dhaka was engulfed in violence after two students were mowed down and several were injured by a speeding bus on 29 July. After the incident, thousands of students from various schools and colleges took to the streets, controlling the traffic in the capital to mark their protest against the lack of road safety.

The protesters had alleged that the bus driver, who ran over the two students, was driving without a licence, adding that it was common practice in Bangladesh for drivers to operate without licences and drive recklessly.

The protests were covered by the international media with Human Rights Watch (HRW) saying that instead of prosecuting those responsible for unlawfully attacking student protesters demanding road safety, Bangladesh authorities are arresting students and targeting activists and journalists who are highlighting the abuses.

A Bangladeshi student poses as a dead body during a student protest in Dhaka.  (Photo: AP)

After nine days of protest, the student-led uprising in Bangaldesh’s capital Dhaka, demanding better road safety laws, fizzled out on Tuesday, 7 August. Thousands of agitators returned to their classes after the massive stir which practically paralysed the country and left over 150 people injured in clashes.

Protests Turned Violent

While initially there were candle light marches, according to The Telegraph, the protests turned violent on Thursday, 2 August. The police used tear gas shells and rubber bullets on the students, after which 3G Internet services were shut down in Dhaka. The bus operators also went on a strike because of the demonstration.

The students had drawn a nine-point list for the government to make roads safer.

The nine-points that the students have drafted.(Picture Courtesy: Dhaka Tribune)

Shut Down on Students

A report by Dhaka Tribune said several students were picked up by the police for ‘spreading rumours’ on social media, as per the local authorities.

The Quint contacted some students in Dhaka and all of them reported being scared for their safety. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a student of BRAC university said:

The local media are all hushed and suppressed so the people living outside the city are being misinformed. Our perspective is simple right now – strike harder. The police is experienced in violence and dispersing gatherings whereas we are only fighting with emotions. The disparity is quite massive, so all we are doing right now is holding on against the violence.

A student of BRAC University

A young, injured man holds out his ID to show that he is just another student.(Photo Courtesy: fifigandanghari/Twitter)

What Did the Government Do?

According to a Dhaka Tribune report, the Road Transport Act 2018 was passed in a cabinet meeting on Monday, 6 August, which proposed a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a Tk 500,000 fine for death by rash and reckless driving. The Sheikh Hasina-led Government has also promised to consider capital punishment for fatal road accidents.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. (File Photo: IANS)

Also reckless driving now been made a non-bailable offence, where under the previous law, it was bailable. This came as an attempt to quell the week-long protests by thousands of school and college students in Dhaka.

Another student The Quint spoke to said, “The protests will go on till the students don’t see their demands being met in real life and not in statements and or paper.”

Another student on the condition of anonymity said that the students did not trust the government’s promises.

Earlier in April 2018, on the issue of reservation, a similar protest had taken place. The students protested for removal of reservation from government jobs then and the Sheikh Hasina-led government had obliged – but according to the students, those but demands have still not been met.

What’s Next?

The future remains uncertain. There is no legal bar for Shahidul to get released from jail following the High Court verdict, Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua, a lawyer for Shahidul, told The Daily Star.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star that his office will move an appeal before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the HC verdict that granted bail to Shahidul.