Immediately release Mahmudur Rahman, arbitrarily imprisoned since 2013

Mr. Mahmudur Rahman,Acting Editor of the Amar Deshnewspaper, has been detained since April 11, 2013, after he was charged withsedition and unlawful publication of a Skype conversation between InternationalCrimes Tribunal (ICT) Judge Md Nizamul Huq and an external consultant inDecember 2012. At the time of his arrest, the Amar Desh office and itspress were raided by the police, journalists and press-operators were beatenand driven out, and the press building was sealed. It has remained closedsince. From April 11 to 24, 2013, Mr. Rahman was subjected to torturewhile in police custody.

On August 13, 2015,Mr. Mahmudur Rahman was sentenced to three yearsin prison by a Dhaka Court for charges brought against him in 2010 by the Bangladesh’sAnti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which accused him of failing to submit hiswealth statement.

Prior to his arrest in 2013, Mr. Rahman had already been the targetof judicial harassment in relation to defamation and sedition cases brought againsthim by the Bangladeshi authorities, notably for publishing a report on allegedcorruption practices of the Prime Minister and her relatives. He was subjectedto torture and ill-treatment while he was arbitrarily detained in relation tothese charges from June 2010 to March 2011.

The Government has now mounted approximately 70 fabricated and politicallymotivated cases against Mr. Rahman. He has to travel three to four times a week fromKashimpur Jail 2 to the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Dhaka, forhearings on these cases. Each journey, covering a total distance of almost 100kilometres a day, takes more than four hours each way in a hot and humid prisonvan with very little ventilation. This type of ill-treatment is especiallyconcerning due to 63 year-old Mahmudur Rahman's health, as he suffers fromvarious ailments aggravated by the torture he suffered while in police custodyand nearly four years of confinement at Kashimpur Jail 2. In addition, hisfamily members - including his wife and his mother - have also been threatenedand harassed by the Government.

Mr. Rahman’s current prolonged detention is illegal according toboth the Criminal Procedure Code and the Constitution of Bangladesh. TheCriminal Procedure Code clearly states that if a trial cannot be completedwithin a specific time (in this case, 180 days) the accused person should bereleased on bail.

Our organisations reiteratetheir call to the authorities of Bangladesh to immediately and unconditionallyrelease and to guarantee the physical andpsychological integrity of Mr. Mahmudur Rahman, whosedetention is emblematic of the increasing repression of dissenting voices inthe country.

Our organisations more generally urge the Bangladeshi Government touphold its obligation under international law to ensure that its people canexercise and defend the right to freedom of expression as well as all otherhuman rights.

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TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders was created in1997 by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH.The overall objective of this programmeis to strengthen the action of humanrights defenders in defence of victims and to reduce theirisolation and vulnerability. It is also based on the absolute necessity toestablish a systematic response to the repression they face.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) works towards the radicalrethinking and fundamental redesigning of justice institutions in order toprotect and promote human rights in Asia. Established in 1984, the Hong Kongbased organisation is a Laureate of the Right Livelihood Award, 2014.