Human rights organisation Write For Rights has expressed deep concern over what it describes as a shrinking space for freedom of expression in the country, citing a series of recent arrests and detentions linked to criticism of the government, social media posts and satirical content.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the organisation said the detention of Sathi Akter, a woman entrepreneur from Bhaluka in Mymensingh, was the latest illustration of a troubling pattern. Akter had gone live on Facebook expressing frustration over a theft at her business and the hardships she faced despite voting for the BNP. Police subsequently detained her, and she was sent to jail the following day under Section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Write For Rights noted that the officer-in-charge of Bhaluka police station had told the media he found no anti-government content in the video after watching it multiple times and that her remarks fell within free speech. The organisation questioned the legal basis for the detention in light of that admission.
The statement listed several other recent cases. These include the detention of a teacher in Kushtia for commenting on the Prime Minister’s pronunciation of a speech, the arrest of a student in Gazipur after a video about electricity bills (shown under a previous anti-terrorism case), and the arrest of content creator A.M. Hasan Nasim over a cartoon of the Chief Whip. Additional incidents involving Facebook posts critical of the Prime Minister or government policies were also cited, many of them resulting in action under Section 54 of the CrPC, the Cyber Security Act or the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Write For Rights referred to data from the Human Rights Support Society, which reported that 32 people were accused in 10 cases under the Cyber Security Act between July and September, with 11 arrested. It also noted claims by NCP convener and opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam that 22 people had been arrested in recent months for expression on social media, as well as an earlier Human Rights Watch warning about the risk of repeating past misuse of law against political speech.
“Article 39 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of thought, conscience and speech,” said Probir Kumar Sarker, chairperson of Write For Rights. “Criticising government policy, demanding accountability and employing satire are core democratic rights, not privileges. A statement does not become a criminal offence merely because it embarrasses those in power.”
A senior journalist and author, Sarker argued that the selective application of preventive detention powers and the reactivation of old cases immediately after critical content appears online raise serious questions about whether the measures are being used to maintain public order or to control the narrative. The statement also pointed to the expulsion of a Jubo Dal leader for calling for the Home Minister’s resignation as further evidence of intolerance toward dissent even within ruling party ranks.
Write For Rights called for the unconditional release of Sathi Akter and others detained primarily for exercising free speech, an independent review of recent cases involving political criticism or satire, clear police guidelines against using preventive detention or old cases to punish expression, amendment of vaguely worded provisions in the Cyber Security Act, and a public affirmation by the government that criticism of policies and leaders is both lawful and essential to democratic accountability.
Officials have previously maintained that while criticism is permissible, deliberate falsehoods or threats to state security are not. Additional IGP Khandaker Rafiqul Islam has said police generally do not initiate cases in such matters unless state security is at risk, and Information Adviser Dr. Zahed Ur Rahman has stressed that excess should not be committed against anyone merely for their statement and that any offence must be determined according to law.
Write For Rights, however, maintained that the pattern of arrests suggests the distinction between legitimate criticism and unlawful conduct is being applied selectively. “Freedom of expression is not a threat to the state; its suppression is,” the organisation concluded. “Every unjust arrest for speech chills countless others who might otherwise speak.”