NEW DELHI: Bangladesh announced on Wednesday that it constituted a cyber crime tribunal while works are underway to toughen related laws as part of a series of steps to prevent exploitation religion and defamation of Islam on the internet.
“We are amending the both the Right to Information Act and the Penal Code toughening punitive measures for hurting the people’s religious sentiments,” law minister Barrister Shafique Ahmad told a press conference also joined by Home Minister Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir and two state ministers.
Ahmad told the press conference that the government constituted the country’s first ever cyber crime tribunal appointing a judge in the capital while a process was underway to set up identical special courts at divisional cities including Chittagong.
He said a government committee comprising two Islamic scholars was constituted to identify websites which were either exploiting or defaming the religion while three people were arrested already in line with their recommendations.
For activists, they told Bikyanews.com that this was part of the ongoing “situation” facing online commenting on social media networks and called on the international community to voice concern for freedom of speech.
“We are a strong people and we speak out all the time, but the government is acting inappropriately and this must end,” said Sanjeev, a 21-year-old university student. He told Bikyanews.com that he and his friends who comment online are now living in fear of arrest and violence.
“The police and the government do not protect us anymore and are chasing us online and offline for their own selfish reasons. I think it is wrong and will lead to large protests if it doesn’t end.”
Source: bikyanews
What kind of ‘freedom of speech’ do these people speak of? Shouldn’t there be any limit to that? If one says that the apostate bloggers are none but bastards and their parents are people of debased character, will it be accepted as freedom of speech? I think, never. Freedom of speech never allows to defame, debase, abuse or blaspheme any one, any religion, any religious personality especially those who are held with the highest esteem and reverence. The govt, albeit late, has taken a very appropriate decision to curb the dirty whims of the bloggers who either exploit or defame any religion. Thanks to the govt’s right steps.