Please write to the authorities of Bangladesh to urge them to: The Observatory urges the authorities to immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan and to put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against all human rights defenders in Bangladesh.
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The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing judicial harassment of Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan and reiterates its deepest concern about the authorities of Bangladesh’s systematic crackdown on human rights defenders and journalists who speak out against rampant human rights violations taking place in the country, including through the use of the Digital Security Act - 2018, the Special Powers Act - 1974, and other draconian laws.
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All of its bank accounts have been frozen and it has been forbidden from receiving foreign funding, impacting considerably its operations.
#JUDICIAL CONSENT 1994 AT AMAZON REGISTRATION#
Odhikar is also facing serious difficulties to implement its activities, since its registration has not been renewed by the NGO Affairs Bureau of the Government of Bangladesh and is still pending since 2015. The Observatory further recalls that since 2013, attacks, surveillance, smear campaigns and harassment against Odhikar and its staff and management have been incessant. Mohammad Ashraful Islam (who lodged the General Diary Entry and the First Information Report at Dhaka’s Gulshan police station in August 2013 and was also the investigating officer of the case), the court only replied that the witness could be called at a later date to be cross-examined. Elan’s lawyers sought permission from the court to examine separately the prosecution witness who testified against the two defendants on October 5, namely Detective Branch Police Officer Mr. There has been notably a lack of transparency regarding the publicity of its decisions.
#JUDICIAL CONSENT 1994 AT AMAZON TRIAL#
The Observatory is all the more concerned that since the case was transferred to the Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka in January 2017, the latter has failed to uphold fair trial principles in this case. The Observatory expresses its deepest concern over the ongoing harassment of Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan, which manifestly aims at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities. The next hearing is now set to take place on November 24, 2021. On September 12, 2021, the Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka resumed the trial in the case against the two defenders and on October 5, 2021, it started to examine prosecution witnesses in the case. On February 14, 2021, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh rejected Odhikar’s appeal to quash the cybercrime case on its legal merits. If found guilty, Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan could each face up to seven years of imprisonment. However, instead of dropping the case, the police brought new charges under the notorious Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, 2006 (amended in 2009). The Observatory recalls that following the publication of Odhikar’s fact-finding report, Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan were arbitrarily detained for 62 and 25 days respectively, before they were both released on bail on October 11 and December 1, 2013. The case was filed against the two in relation to a fact-finding report issued by Odhikar documenting extrajudicial killings by security forces and law enforcement agencies during a protest in May 2013. On November 9, 2021, the Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka resumed its examination of prosecution witnesses in the case brought against Adilur Rahman Khan, who is also a member of OMCT General Assembly and FIDH Secretary-General, and ASM Nasiruddin Elan in Case No.
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Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan, respectively Secretary and Director of the human rights non-governmental organisation Odhikar, in a further attempt to sanction and silence their human rights activities. The Observatory has been informed about the ongoing judicial harassment against Messrs. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Bangladesh.