A Rajshahi University correspondent of daily Jugantor was sent to jail on Saturday in a case filed five years ago under the Information and Communication Technology Act.
Manik Raihan Bappy was arrested at his home in Shibganj on Friday, said Farid Hossain, officer-in-charge of Shibganj Police Station.
A Rajshahi court sent him to jail the next day.
Around 20 journalists of the university formed a human chain at the central library on campus yesterday demanding Bappy’s immediate and unconditional release.
Speakers at the human chain said the case filed under the Digital Security Act was a barrier to journalists’ freedom of speech.
They said such cases were a threat to the journalist community. The purpose of these cases is to harass campus reporters, and also an attempt to protect the people whose actions the journalists write about, they said.
On October 24, 2015, Kazi Zahidur Rahman, a teacher of computer science and then resident teacher of Shaheed Suhrawardy Hall, filed the case against 16 news organisations following reports that he allocated seats in exchange for money.
Bappy was then the RU correspondent of one of the accused organisations 24bdtime.com.
Sub-inspector Momin of Matihar Police Station pressed charges against eight people in the case on September 29, last year.
Arrest warrants were issued to them after they failed to appear before a local court, he added.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/ru-journo-sent-jail-ict-case-filed-5yrs-ago-1995477
