Staff Reporter :
Expressing concerns over several sections of the proposed Digital Security Act-2018, diplomats of 10 countries and the EU have said that those sections go against the freedom of expression.
The envoys of these countries to Bangladesh expressed the concern at a meeting with Law Minister Anisul Huq at his Secretariat office in the capital on Sunday.
The minister told reporters after the meeting that he has assured the ambassadors and the representatives of those countries to look into their concern after having talks with the ministry concerned.
“They expressed concern over sections 21, 28, 32 and 25 of the proposed act and we presented our opinion. Further discussions will be held as we will meet again soon,” the minister said.
He also said, the 10 countries and the EU through the Foreign Ministry have requested him for the meeting to discuss the proposed Digital Security Act-2018.
The 10 countries are Germany, Sweden, USA, Denmark, France, Canada, UK, Spain, Norway, Switzerland and the European Union (EU). Ambassadors and some representatives of eight countries were present at the hour-long meeting.
While responding to a question from reporters about appointment of Lord Carlile as Khaleda’s lawyer, he said, “It’s very deplorable as the lawyer also worked for war criminals.”
The Cabinet on January 29 approved the draft of the Digital Security Act-2018, which journalists and rights defenders feared that freedom of the press and expression would be put to the sword.
