Staff Reporter :
Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh demanded a quick release of five people who were convicted for murdering free-thinking blogger and writer Avijit Roy.
The platform in a statement on Friday also demanded revoke of the punishment handed down to the six youths, who are members of the banned extremist outfit Ansar al-Islam, also known as Ansarullah Bangla Team.
A Dhaka court on February 16 sentenced five members of the extremist outfit to death and another to life-term imprisonment for murdering Avijit on February 26, 2015.
In the statement, Hefazat-e-Islam spokesperson Azizul Haque Islamabadi cited that Avijit’s wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya, who was also injured in the attack, criticised the verdict and highlighted its flaws in a social media post.
‘Her statement clarified that it was farcical in name of justice,’ said the Hefazat leader.
Islamabadi, who is also the central organising secretary of Hefazat-e-Islam, said the organisation does not support any instances of extrajudicial killings or people taking laws in their hands, but the government did not take any legal actions against the bloggers who ‘defamed’ Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The government was reluctant in taking actions against Muktomona blog, ran by Avijit Roy, despite it was defaming the Prophet (PUBH), the statement added.
Had the government taken legal actions then, such incident might not have taken place, said Islamabadi.
Bangladeshi-American rights activist Avijit, who authored 10 books including the best-selling ‘Bishwaser Virus,’ Virus of Faith, was killed at the age of 43.
