A Dhaka court today (17 September) granted a 7-day remand for journalists Mozammel Haque Babu and Shyamal Dutta, along with Shahriar Kabir, former president of the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee. The decision follows a police request for a 10-day remand.
Mozammel and Shyamal, along with two others, were arrested yesterday in Dhaka’s Adabar area. Both journalists face accusations under the International Crimes Tribunal and multiple police station complaints for allegedly inciting violence during protests led by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. They had been in hiding since the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August.
Shyamal Dutta currently serves as the general secretary of the National Press Club, while Mozammel Haque Babu has held the position of president of the Editors Guild since 2020.
Shahriar Kabir, a prominent activist, was arrested from his residence on 16 September and is currently charged in connection with a murder case filed at the Banani police station. Shahriar served as the president of the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, a pressure group demanding war crimes trials from the Bangladesh Liberation War, from 2017 until 2024. The organization advocates for secularism in Bangladesh.