A Dhaka court on Monday deferred the hearing on charge framing against cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore and six others in a case filed under Digital Security Act.
Judge Mohammad Ash Sams Joglul Hossain of the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal deferred the hearing until February 27 after hearing a time petition filed by the defence.
Cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore's counsel Md Jydur Rahman filed the time petition mentioning that they had been trying to communicate with Kishore over the phone, but found it switched off.
On the other hand, Public Prosecutor Nazrul Islam Shamim opposed the time petition, saying that Kishore was now staying abroad and was posting anti-government remarks on Facebook. So, the charges should be framed against all the accused.
After the hearing, the court allowed the time petition for the last time.
Six other accused in the case are Didarul Islam Bhuiyan, activist of the platform "Rastrachinta"; Swedish-Bangladeshi journalist Tasneem Khalil, editor of Netra News; Minhaj Mannan Emon, managing director of BLE securities; expatriate Shamiul Islam Khan alias Zulkarnain Saer Khan; Ashik Imran; and Wahidun Nabi.
Also Read- Explainer: What you need to know about the case against cartoonist Kishore
On September 12 last year, the cyber tribunal accepted charges against Kishore and six others in the case.
Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) submitted the charge sheet on June 13 last year.
On May 6, 2020, Rab-3 Assistant Director Abu Bakar Siddique filed the case against 11 people, including Kishore, writer Mushtaq Ahmed, Didarul and Minhaj with Ramna Police Station under the DSA.
The name of Mushtaq was dropped from the charge sheet as he died at Kashimpur High Security Jail on February 25 last year. Kishore got bail in March.
