Salah Choudhury

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Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
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Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is editor of the Bangladesh tabloid The Weekly Blitz.[1]

A devout Muslim, Choudhury opened a branch of the Israel-based International Forum for Literature and Culture of Peace. He wrote about the rise of al-Qaeda in Bangladesh and has written articles against anti-Israeli and Judeophobic attitudes in Muslim-majority countries.[2]

PEN USA gave their Freedom to Write Award in 2005 in recognition of his commitment towards courageous journalism and confronting extreme adversities.[3]

The American Jewish Committee presented its Moral Courage Award to him in May 2006, but the Bangladesh government prevented him from visiting the United States to receive the honor.[4]

Choudhury will face charges of sedition, treason, blasphemy and espionage for having tried to attend a conference of the Hebrew Writers' Association in Tel Aviv. He violated the Passport Act, by attempting to travel to Israel in November 2003. The Act forbids citizens from visiting countries with which Bangladesh does not maintain diplomatic relations, usually punishable by a fine of $8. On November 29, he was taken into police custody[5] and, as he tells it, blindfolded, beaten and interrogated for 10 days in an attempt to extract a confession that he was spying for Israel. He spent the next 17 months in solitary confinement, and was denied medical treatment for his glaucoma. On intervention of U.S. Congressman Mark Kirk, who spoke to Bangladesh's ambassador to the U.S., Choudhury's was released on bail, though the charges were not dropped.[6]

In July, Islamist militants bombed the offices of the Weekly Blitz. In September, a judge ordered the case continued, in spite of the government's reluctance to prosecute, as Choudhury had "spoiled" the "image of Bangladesh" and "hurt the sentiments of Muslims" by lauding Jews and Christians. After the police detail that had been posted to the Blitz's offices since the July bombing had vanished, the offices were ransacked and Choudhury was badly beaten by a mob. When he lodged a formal complaint with the police, an arrest warrant was issued for him. The U.S. Embassy in Dhaka sent an observer to his trial.[6]

Later, Choudhury lodged a case in the Court of Metropolitan Magistrate against the attackers, mostly belonging to the Cultural Wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Now the case is under investigation. From 13th November 2006, the judge will begin hearing the witnesses in this case.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ weeklyblitz.net, about us
  2. ^ Bangladesh: Journalist detained, The Committee to Protect Journalists, December 3, 2003
  3. ^ Honorary Member Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, PEN USA (with time table of events)
  4. ^ Wall Street Journal urges Bush Administration to protect Bangladesh journalist Choudhury from persecution, by Daya Gamage, Asian Tribune, October 12, 2006
  5. ^ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, February 25, 2004
  6. ^ a b Darkness in Dhaka - A gadfly Bangladeshi journalist runs for his life by Bret Stephens, The Wall Street Journal, October 15, 2006

[edit] External links

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