DHAKA (AFP) – Police in Bangladesh arrested a self-styled “militant atheist” on Wednesday for anti-religious writings as part of a crackdown on bloggers in the face of pressure from radical Islamist groups.
The arrest of Asif Mohiuddin, 29, comes a day after the detention of three other bloggers and ahead of an Islamist march this weekend towards the capital Dhaka to demand the death penalty for online atheist writers.
“The detective police arrested Asif Mohiuddin on charges of hurting religious sentiment through his writings on blogs and Facebook,” Dhaka police spokesman Masudur Rahman told AFP.
Mohiuddin, who is famed for his blogs that ridicule Muslims, the Koran and other religions, survived a machete attack by suspected Islamists in Dhaka in January. His blog page had been one of the most visited websites in the country before it was removed at the order of the telecoms regulator.
Source: Straitstimes
