Cartoonist Kishore sued in DSA case for ‘anti-state propaganda’

Cartoonist Kishore

A tribunal has ordered the trial of cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore and six others on charges of conducting an anti-state propaganda on Facebook.

The others accused in the case are Didarul Islam Bhuiyan, an activist of Rashtrochinta, Minhaz Mannan, a former DSE director, Saer Zulkarnain alias Samiul Islam Khan alias Sami, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Hungary, Tasneem Khalil, editor of Sweden-based Netra News, blogger Ashik Mohammad Imran, and expatriate Md Wahidunnabi alias Shapan Wahed.

Judge As-Shams Joglul Hoosain of Dhaka Cyber Tribunal framed the charges against them on Sunday and set Apr 7 to start recording testimonials of witnesses.

State counsel Nazrul Islam Shamim said Minhaz and Didarul were present during the hearing. The judge dismissed their pleas for acquittal.

Kishore, out on bail now, was absent. So the judge cancelled his bail and issued an arrest warrant against him.

Sami, Tasneem, Imran, and Wahidunnabi were named in the charge-sheet as absconding.

After arresting Kishore and writer Mushtaq Ahmed on May 5, 2020, the Rapid Action Battalion started the case against 11 people. Minhaz and Didarul were also arrested the following day.

Mohsin Sarder, a police sub-inspector who was the first investigation officer of the case under the Digital Security Act, pressed charges against Kishore, Didarul and Mushtaq in January last year.

Mushtaq died in jail on Feb 25, 2021.

After being freed on bail in early March last year, Kishore alleged he was tortured at an unknown place before being shown arrested in the case in 2020. After an investigation, police said they did not find his allegation substantial.