A Dhaka court on Thursday sentenced the Weekly Blitz editor, Salauddin Shoyeb Choudhury to seven years rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a case filed on charges of sedition in 2004. Dhaka’s Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Jahurul Haque pronounced the verdict at about 11.00 am in presence of the convict.
As per the statement of the case Shoyeb was arrested on November 29, 2003, from the then Zia International Airport and the present Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) while he was going to attend a conference in Israel.
Police seized an anti-Islamic script, Shoyeb prepared to use while addressing the conference titled “Education towards culture of peace”, from his possession. The script said that different Islami militant organizations including Al-Qaeda are active in Bangladesh and youths are being trained in Bangladeshi madrasahs to fight for Osama-Bin-Laden. – Court Correspondent
