Digital Security Act: 147 sued, 67 arrests a month
On an average, 67 arrests were made every month under the Digital Security Act in the 11 months preceding February, said a new report by the Centre for Governance Studies.
Way more people were being arrested under the act in recent times than before, it concluded.
Between January 2020 and March 2021, the average number of people arrested every month was about 18.
At least 842 people were detained between January 2020 and February 2022, said the report titled "The Unending Nightmare: Impacts of Bangladesh's Digital Security Act-2018".
The report also recorded the occupations of 315 of the arrestees: Eighty of them were politicians, 59 journalists and 47 students.
Since most of the provisions of the act state that the offenders are not supposed to get bail, the arrestees get incarcerated for extended periods of time even before the trials begin, said the speakers who unveiled the report at a virtual ceremony yesterday.
The number of cases filed under the act has also shot up in recent times.
An average of about 147 individuals were accused each month in the 11 months until February.
In the fifteen months prior to that, 61 people were accused on an average each month, indicating that the number of cases being filed have more than doubled in the past year.
Speakers said the law was being used "indiscriminately".
The report says 2,244 people have been accused in 890 cases in the last two years.
Lead researcher of the report Prof Ali Riaz, distinguished professor of political science at Illinois State University in the USA, said the DSA has given "immense power" to law enforcement agencies while there are no monitoring and accountability mechanisms.
The plaintiffs of 508 cases could be identified, and of them, 33 percent were affiliated with the ruling party and 22 percent were cops.
Anyone can file a case against any individual under the law. As a result, a pathway for "vigilante justice" has been opened, said Prof Riaz.
The report found 98 out of the 890 cases were filed for "defaming" the prime minister, 51 for defaming ministers, and 75 for defaming political leaders, mostly of the ruling party.
"This is a great threat to the judicial system and rule of law," said Prof Riaz.
He voiced concern that the misuse of the law might increase further before the parliamentary election next year.
JOURNALIST VICTIMS
The report found that in 26 months preceding February, as many as 207 journalists have been prosecuted under the DSA.
Seventy of them were associated with national-level media houses while 117 were local journalists.
A quarter of the accusers filing cases against journalists belong to the ruling party and its affiliated bodies.
Ruling Awami League men are mostly trying to take advantage by utilising the law, said CGS Chairman Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury.
Former election commissioner Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain said the situation has been created because the country is in the midst of an "elected autocracy", adding that an acceptable election was the way to overcome the present situation.
Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar said laws like the DSA are being formulated to serve the powerful.
The DSA and road safety laws were formulated around the same time. However, the DSA's use started almost immediately whereas the road safety law has yet to be fully implemented, he added.
News Courtesy: