A Bangladeshi magazine editor arrested for suspected links with an Israeli literary group has been charged with sedition for allegedly trying to tarnish the country’s image aboard. Bangladesh, a moderate Muslim country, bars its citizens from formal contact - such as business dealings or cultural exchanges - with Israelis. Traveling to Israel is also restricted. Police detained Salauddin Shoib Chowdhury, the editor of entertainment magazine Blitz, on Nov. 29 as he was boarding a flight in Dhaka for Bangkok. He allegedly was planning to travel to Tel Aviv. Immigration officials found in Chowdhury’s possession an invitation to a literary conference organized by the Hebrew Writers Association in Tel Aviv on Dec. 1. They also seized a paper - containing remarks calling Bangladesh and its people Muslim fundamentalists - that Chowdhury was to present at the conference, police said. Police said they also confiscated fax and e-mail messages and computer disks from his residence and office, including a project proposal seeking 120 million takas ($1=BDT60.316) from a Jewish group to publish three newspapers. Police didn’t name the group or say what type of newspapers they were.
On Saturday, police filed a case under a sedition law accusing Chowdhury of anti-state activities for having contacts with Israelis and trying to tarnish the country’s image abroad, said Mohammed Abdul Hanif, a police official. Chowdhury, who has denied all charges, could be jailed for life if found guilty. The police investigation proved "beyond doubt that he was trying to tarnish the image of Bangladesh, so he should be charged with anti-state activities," the police said in the case filed with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. Chowdhury was also charged with hurting the religious sentiments of Bangladeshis, which carries a maximum two-year jail term and a fine.
| Ahhh, those laws against hurt feelings... But tell me, don't the people who're jailed for a couple years get their feelings hurt, too? |
He remains in custody after being denied bail in early December. Chowdhury was recently named as head of the Bangladeshi branch of the Israel-based International Forum for Literature and Culture for Peace, which links writers campaigning for an end to violence, the group said earlier in a statement. Forum president Ada Aharoni called the arrest an unwarranted attack on an advocate of dialogue between Muslims and Jews. Bangladesh, which strongly supports a Palestinian state, has no official, political or economic ties with Israel. |