Bangladesh on Trial

t was March 27, 2008, when prestigious Wall Street Journal published an editorial titled 'Bangladesh on Trial' to describe the intimidation of internationally known award winning journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury.

In this editorial, WSJ wrote: "Bangladesh's military caretaker government says it is serious about restoring democracy and the rule of law to the country. But Dhaka's escalating harassment of one of its most prominent journalists suggests otherwise.

"Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of a weekly newspaper in Dhaka, was charged in January 2004 with sedition, a charge that has since been broadened to include treason, blasphemy and espionage. His real "crime" was to advocate for peaceful relations between Muslims and Jews in the Mideast and to call attention to the radical Islamist threat within Bangladesh. Pressure from the U.S. helped lead to his release on bail in April 2005, although the charges have not been dropped.

"Now Dhaka is ratcheting up the pressure. On March 18, more than a dozen members of the government's Rapid Action Battalion stormed Mr. Choudhury's newspaper offices in Dhaka at gunpoint. After "discovering" illegal drugs in Mr. Choudhury's desk drawer, the RAB blindfolded Mr. Choudhury and a colleague and carted them to headquarters. There, Mr. Choudhury tells us, his interrogators accused him of being a "Zionist spy" and beat his colleague, Mahboob Ar Rahman, a 57-year-old man who had to seek medical treatment. The pair were released after midnight.

"The RAB has a reputation for extreme thuggishness. Created in 2004 by the civilian government in place at the time, it is supposed to be an elite counter-terrorism force. As Mr. Choudhury left their custody, his RAB abductors told him that if he raised a fuss about the incident they'd return, perhaps to his home next time. He tells us the threats have continued for the past week.

"Mr. Choudhury speculates the new threats are a result of Dhaka's growing embarrassment at the international pressure being brought to bear on his behalf, particularly from the U.S. Congress and the European Union. For at least the past year, the U.S. embassy and EU delegation have sent officers to observe the journalist's monthly hearings. A day after the latest such hearing, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on Dhaka to drop the charges against Mr. Choudhury; the vote was 409-1. Dhaka can't help but notice, given the $110 million in aid Washington plans to send during fiscal 2008.

"The world can't afford for Bangladesh's transition to democracy

to fail, and Mr. Choudhury's case is one test of the government's commitment to keeping the influence of Islamists in check. Mr. Choudhury, for his part, is undeterred. When we spoke to him yesterday he was preparing to publish the newspaper's next issue. For his country's sake, he should be allowed to do so unmolested."

Just 11 months after publishing the above editorial, result is, Shoaib Choudhury is facing trial, there was no action taken by the military backed interim regime against the members of RAB who abducted Mr. Choudhury from his office. Looted items were never returned. Moreover, the military backed government did not return police protection at the residence of this Bangladeshi journalist, although in the Resolution, U.S. Congress categorically emphasized in according protection to him.

Anyway, one year has already passed and the military backed interim regime, which handed over power to an elected government in January, did not pay any attention to such international outcry.

Now, the Wall Street Journal has published another editorial on February 3 2009 titled 'Bangladesh on Trial II' on the same topic. This is surely a follow up of the previous editorial.

In the latest editorial, The Wall Street Journal wrote, "Bangladesh's new, democratically elected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took office last month, promising to put her country on a pro-growth, anti-Islamist path. Ending the trial of journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is a good place to start.

"Mr. Choudhury was charged in January 2004 with sedition, later expanded to include counts of treason, blasphemy and espionage. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. His "crime" was using the weekly newspaper he edits to advocate peaceful relations between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East and to call attention to radical Islam in Bangladesh. Early in his ordeal, he spent 16 months in jail; he is now out on bail.

"When Mr. Choudhury was arrested five years ago, the party in power in Dhaka was supported by radical Islamists who view Mr. Choudhury's journalism as an affront. The military-backed caretaker government that ruled from 2007 to last month was wary of offending those same Islamists by dropping the charges against Mr. Choudhury. But with a new government led by the secular-leaning Awami League in place, now is an appropriate time for a re-think of the case.

"Until August, no judge had demanded that prosecutors present evidence to support the charges against Mr. Choudhury. When the court finally did so, the prosecution's star witness, police officer Abdul Hanif, could not back up a key element of the case -- the charge that Mr. Choudhury had published an article in USA Today titled "Hello Tel Aviv" that prosecutors say either is seditious or sullies Bangladesh's international image. Mr. Choudhury tells us he never wrote such an article. A USA Today spokeswoman says the newspaper can't find a record of the article, although its electronic archive is incomplete.

"Yet instead of dismissing the case then and there, the judge gave prosecutors more time to summon additional witnesses. Those witnesses have failed to appear at several subsequent hearings, which under Bangladeshi law could be cause enough to dismiss the case. Now a new judge is on the case and is trying to catch up on the details of the file, adding further delays. Mr. Choudhury's next court date is February 15.

"If the case is allowed to continue, it will send a bad signal about Dhaka's commitment to standing up to the country's Islamist fringe. Mr. Choudhury's alleged crimes include public discussion of radicalism in the country's madrassas -- just the kind of discussion moderate Bangladeshis should be able to have without fear of judicial reprisal. The case is also bad for business. Foreign investors can have little confidence in the rule of law in a country that denies a fair and speedy trial to its own citizens.

"Ms. Hasina's office didn't respond to our requests for comment last week, and so far her government hasn't given any public indication of what it might do with respect to Mr. Choudhury. Ending the journalist's ordeal doesn't require extralegal intervention on Ms. Hasina's part. She simply needs to instruct her Home Minister to tell prosecutors to perform their function and drop cases when there's no evidence. Doing so now would right an injustice against Mr. Choudhury. It would also be best for Bangladesh."

Now, it is a million dollar question as to whether, the government led by Sheikh Hasina will have the courage to take a bold step in dropping this politically motivated case brought by the then Islamist Coalition government. Although we want to be optimistic on this matter, something makes us very confused and even worried.

Awami League, although claims to be a party following secular ideology, the past track record shows something else. For example, on December 23, 2006 a treaty was signed between Awami League and Khelafat Majlish containing six points. In the treaty, it was written:

"Bangladesh Awami League and Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish committing to this agreement on following 5 points for jointly participating in the ensuing 9th National Parliamentary Election, and if Allah the Great blesses victory shall implement these points.

"No law shall be enacted contrary to the Qur'an, Sunnah and Shariah.

"Government Recognition to Quaumi Madrasa Certificate will be duly implemented.

"Laws will be enacted as follows:

"Hazrat Muhammad (SAWS) is the Last and the Greatest Messenger of Allah.

"Certified Righteous Ulemas reserve the right to issue Fatwa. One who is not certified shall not have the right to issue Fatwa.

"Defamation or criticism of Messengers of Allah and Sahabas (Companions of Hazrat Muhammad SAWS) is punishable crime."

If someone will go through each of the clauses in the treaty, they will possibly smell a kind of Taliban typed notion in them. Some of the clauses even went against the Qur'an. For example, in the treaty it is mentioned, "Hazrat Muhammad (SAWS) is the Last and the Greatest Messenger of Allah". But, Qur'an says categorically that, no Muslim can differentiate the prophets of G-d (Allah), if he does, he will become a 'Kafir' (atheist). Qor'an never says that, prophet of Islam is the 'Greatest'. This is a kind of creation of some half educated fanatic clergies in Islam. Even the Prophet of Islam never claimed to be the 'greatest'. This particular notion is imported from Iranian and Taliban beliefs.

Anyway, whatever may be the argument; it is a question as to why a so-called secular political party like Awami League entered into such extremely controversial treaty with another fanatic political party? Just for the sake of winning the election? If yes, then, what good we can expect from this power monger political party?

According to very latest information, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is getting prepared to appear in the trial court on February 15. A new judge named Bashir Ullah has just been placed in the court. This week, the Awami League government appointed one of their party activist lawyers as the Public Prosecutor named Abu. Naturally, the next sessions of the trial will be continuing with a new judge and public prosecutor appointed by the present government in Dhaka. On the other hand, some officials in the government are conspiring to cancel the license of Weekly Blitz, the only anti Islamist newspaper in the Muslim world, edited and owned by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury. No doubt, such initiatives are from some over enthusiastic and pro-Islamist elements in the bureaucracy. Or, may be the present government is planning to suffocate the voice of Shoaib Choudhury by seizing his newspaper, which was never done even by the pro Islamist government like BNP or controversial interim regime.

Signs are not positive at all! Should Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina act immediately, or let his men continue to harass the extremely courageous jewel of Bangladesh?