Amnesty International has demanded the unconditional release of Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin of the human rights organization Odhikar.
The UK-based human rights organization called on the Bangladesh government to release the officials on social media X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Today, the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal sentenced the leaders of human rights organization Odhikar, Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan, to two years' imprisonment under the draconian ICT Act, after a decade of being charged and facing persecution by the state.
The case was filed after Odhikar published a fact-finding report documenting extrajudicial killings conducted by the state in response to a protest in 2013. The state’s relentless crackdown on Odhikar and its leaders is an assault on the right to speak truth to power,” it wrote.
Amnesty International added that documenting human rights violations is not a crime. “We urge the Bangladeshi authorities to release Khan and Elan immediately and unconditionally. We stand with Khan and Elan. #FreeKhan #FreeElan.”
A Dhaka court sentenced Adilur Rahman Khan, the secretary of Odhikar, to two years in prison on Thursday.
He was convicted of disseminating false information regarding an operation against Hefazat-e-Islam members at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka a decade ago.
ASM Nasiruddin, the director of Odhikar, also received a two-year prison sentence in the same case and both were fined Tk10,000 each.