News Desk :
The Dhaka Cyber Tribunal yesterday issued warrant to arrest four people, including Zulkarnain Shayer Khan alias Sami, who appeared in a allegedly false and politically motivated documentary of Al Jazeera, and Netra News editor-in-chief Tasnim Khalil in a case lodged under Digital Security Act (DSA).
The other two accused are- Ashik Imran and Swapan Wahid. The tribunal passed the order as the four accused refrained from appearing before the court in spite of its order, reports BSS. The tribunal meanwhile, accepted charge-sheet filed by the investigating agency Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crimes (CTTC) against seven accused in the case. The accused are- Sami, Tasnim Khalil, cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, Rashtrachinta coordinator Didarul Bhuiyan, former director of Dhaka Stock Exchange Minhaj Mannan, Ashik Imran and Swapan Wahid.
The investigation agency dropped names of four accused from the charge-sheet. They are writer Mushtak Ahmed, US based journalist Sahed Alam, blogger Asif Mohiuddin, and Philip Shumakher.
Police on June 13 filed the charge-sheet in the case. Sub-inspector Afsar Ahmed of CTTC had filed the charge-sheet with Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court.
Judge Ash Shams Jaglul Hossain of Bangladesh Cyber Tribunal on February 10 had ordered the CTTC unit to further investigate the case.
The court came up with the order, allowing a prosecution plea to further investigate the case. The prosecution on February 9 filed a naraji (no-confidence) petition against the charge-sheet for dropping names of eight accused including Sami.
Earlier on January 13, police filed the charge-sheet against cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, Rashtrachinta coordinator Didarul Bhuiyan and writer Mushtak Ahmed.
Police, however, excluded the names of eight accused Minhaj Mannan, Tasnim Khalil, Sahed Alam, Asif Mohiuddin, Sami, Ashik Imran, Swapan Wahid and Philip Shumakher from the charge-sheet.
The investigation officer pleaded to acquit them of the charges, saying the allegations brought against them were not proved.
RAB filed the case against 11 persons on May 5, 2020, on the charges of spreading anti-state falsehood to tarnish the image of Bangladesh and create confusion from a Facebook page.
