Headline October 12, 2018/ '' ' BANGLADESH'S DIGITAL BANISHINGS ' ''

'' ' BANGLADESH'S DIGITAL 

BANISHINGS ' ''

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH said the law would be ripe for abuse, in part because it would empower police to search or arrest suspects without a court order...............

''Bangladesh authorities have failed to address serious human rights violations, and when criticized, chosen  to target the messenger,'' spokeswoman Meenakashi Ganguli told The Associated Press.......

STUDENTS AND JOURNALISTS and human rights groups are demanding major amendments to a bill recently passed in Bangladesh's Parliament, saying it will further choke constitutionally protected freedom of speech.

A powerful body of editors of leading newspapers and TV stations has officially protested the bill, called the Digital Security Act, and plans to form a human chain to continue protests in front of the national press club Dhaka.

''We are moving towards bad times. This law will hurt the media, democracy and the freedom of expression,'' said    Khandakar Muiniuzzaman, acting editor of the Bengali language daily Sangbad and among those planning to in protests.

Senior editors, journalist groups and human rights groups in and outside Bangladesh are echoing those concerns, demanding that law-makers clarify sections of the bill they say could be wielded arbitrarily against government critics.

In Bangladesh, the president customarily signs anything passed by the Parliament. He can send it back to Parliament, but if members think no changes are needed, it will go back to him for signature. If the president does not sign it in six months, it automatically becomes law.

The bill would replace a previous  information communication technology law, which was also criticized by journalists and human rights groups for the alleged use to crack down on dissent.   

Many editors and reporters have been sued for defamation under the law. Observers say the bill is part of a broader campaign to silence critics in Bangladesh, and reflects a worrying trend in fledgling democracies.

Journalists in Nepal are combating a similar law, part of an expansive rewriting of that country's civil and criminal codes meant to define the parameters of Nepal's new constitution.

Laws like the one recently passed in Nepal and the one just approved in Bangladesh where  democracy was restored in 1990  after the military dictator was ousted, could make it more difficult for journalists to expose corruption.

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who political opponents decry as an autocrat, defended the bill in Parliament some weeks ago, saying that it was meant to protect the country from propaganda.

''Journalism is surely not for increasing conflict, or for tarnishing the image of the country,'' she said.

Bangladesh's journalists are taking particular umbrage with the section of the bill that authorizes up to 14 years in prison for gathering, sending or preserving classified information of any government using a  computer or other digital device.

The journalists say publishing such information is a way to hold officials accountable. The section evokes the sentiment of a British colonial-era law about protecting official secrets.

The bill/Law would also authorize prison sentences of up to three years for publishing information that is  ''aggressive or frightening'' and up to 10 years for posting information that  ''ruins continued harmony or creates instability or disorder or disturbs or is about to disturb the law and order situation.''

Government officials have listed incidents in recent years in which false social media posts about people disrespecting the Quran have incited violence.

Critics of the bill say existing criminal laws adequately address these very concerns. Fears the broad reach of the bill extend beyond journalists.

 ''Bangladesh journalists, already under pressure, will worry about doing their job in exposing government failures,''  added the spokeswoman Meenakashi.

Some critics say introducing such a law a few months before general elections, which are expected in December, could also target opposition activists and candidates.

Bangladesh's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, has said the bill is intended to silence the its members. Party leader former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, an archrival of Hasina, is currently in jail for corruption.

Her supporters say her jailing is politically motivated, an allegation authorities have denied.

With respectful dedication to the People of Bangladesh, then the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world,  see ya all ''register'' on  wssciw.blogspot.com - The World Students Society and....................... Twitter-!E-WOW! - the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Digital Reckoning '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless