Staff Reporter :
Politicians, lawyers, journalists and academics on Thursday in a webinar criticised the government for targeting dissenters and journalists with Digital Security Act (DSA).
They also stressed the need for reviewing the law to uphold people’s fundamental rights.
Center for Governance Studies organised the webinar titled ‘Digital Security Act 2018: Who are the Real Victims’.
Fisheries and livestock minister SM Rezaul Karim argued that the DSA was an essential law,
especially when people were becoming victims of malicious campaigns amid the increased use of the internet in Bangladesh. He, however, acknowledged that there was scope to review some of the sections of the law.
The minister, formerly a Supreme Court lawyer, blamed a few over overenthusiastic members of law enforcement agencies and ‘hydride’ political activists for misuse of the law.
The misuse of DSA is not acceptable, he added.
Lawmaker Shirin Akhter, the general secretary of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, also advocated for the DSA to ensure secured cyberspace but said that loopholes of the act should be removed. Dhaka University law professor Asif Nazrul explained how the DSA was misused against him and others. He said that even he became afraid of writing or speaking anything against prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
He feared he would face the music if he said anything about the 2018 ‘controversial’ general election or found ‘criminal intention’ in the recently leaked phone call between law minister Anisul Huq and one of the prime minister’s advisors.
He said DSA was instrumental in prolonging the ‘non-transparent’ governing system in the country.
Supreme Court lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua differed with other discussants and said the DSA should be repealed.
He said ambiguous wording in DSA 2018, particularly under Section 25, helped surge in cases.
He said that most of the cases under the DSA were being filed by third parties, not the victim. It goes against laws, he said, adding that the constitution and law stated that there could not be multiple cases on the same issue.
Jyotirmoy said there should be a legal framework for the pre-trial stage of the case.
