A teacher of Rajshahi University has been arrested under the Digital Security Act over a social media post allegedly criticizing senior Awami League leader and former minister Mohammed Nasim, who died on June 12.
Kazi Jahidur Rahman, a lecturer at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, was picked up by police from his home at around 2am on Thursday, according to the local Motihar Police Station.
The arrest was made after local Awami League leader Tapash Kumar Saha filed a case with the police late on Wednesday, said Assistant Sub-Inspector Md Asaduzzaman.
Police produced him before a court in Rajshahi on Thursday. The court sent him to jail.
Jahidur is the second university teacher to be arrested under the controversial Digital Security Act for criticizing the senior leader of the ruling party.
Earlier, on Saturday, a lecturer of Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur was arrested in a case filed under the same law for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Nasim on social media.
The university authorities said on Thursday that they had suspended the lecturer, Sirajum Munira.
According to journalists and rights activists, the controversial Digital Security Act, enacted in 2018, effectively stifles freedom of speech and the media.
Since the coronavirus outbreak, the number of cases under the law has surged.
As many as 41 people were charged under the act between April 1 and May, according to statistics from Human Rights Forum Bangladesh, a coalition of rights bodies.
