Dr Shahidul Alam has not been short of support from the international human rights and media communities since his arrest 100 days ago today.
The prize-winning photographer and founder of the Drik gallery was detained from his home in Dhaka on August 5 only hours after making “provocative comments” in an al-Jazeera interview about the student-led protests on road safety.
The family and friends of Shahidul were joined on September 27 by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), PEN America, Reporters Without Borders, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch in demanding his release as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressed the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
The call for Shahidul’s release has additionally been supported by 12 Nobel Laureates and international figures including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Amartya Sen, and Dr Mohammad Yunus.
Other messages of support have come from Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, National Geographic, and UN human rights experts.
In the UK, several MPs of Bangladeshi origin have also come out in support of Shahidul’s release.
Tulip Siddiq, the niece of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn in London, said on August 28 that the detention of Shahidul was “deeply distressing and should end immediately”.
The British MP said: “Bangladesh must uphold international standards of justice in treating its own citizens.
“I would hope our Foreign Office will convey that message in stark terms to a country that is seen as a close ally.”
Rushanara Ali to Rupa Huq are other British lawmakers of Bangladeshi origin to have voiced their support for Dr Shahidul Alam.
