The Clooney Foundation for Justice鈥檚 TrialWatch Initiative and the Centre for Governance Studies in a joint report released on Saturday said that the cases pending under the repealed provisions of Bangladesh鈥檚 Information and Communication Technology Act should be dropped.
With a political transition underway in Bangladesh, the time is right for a review of the country鈥檚 succession of draconian cyber laws, a press release issued by the CGS, referring to the joint report, said.
It said that the recent announcement by the interim government to withdraw all 鈥榮peech offence鈥� cases under all three cyber laws was a step in the right direction.
Bangladesh has long had laws criminalising what is vaguely described as the dissemination of 鈥榦ffensive鈥� or 鈥榝alse鈥� information, or information that allegedly 鈥榙eteriorates law and order鈥� or 鈥榟urts religious beliefs鈥� online.
These criminal provisions have found form in a succession of laws 鈥� first, in provisions of the 2006 ICT Act, replaced in 2018 with the Digital Security Act, which in turn was supplanted by the Cyber Security Act in 2023.
Although each of those changes was trumpeted as a measure of reform, the substance of the criminal provisions remained the same.
鈥楢mnesty International said of the CSA, the latest and, supposedly, the most reformed of these laws, that it 鈥渞epackages almost all repressive features of the DSA (and section 57 of the ICT Act that preceded it)鈥�,鈥� the report said.
While section 57 of the ICT Act and the DSA have been repealed, over a thousand 鈥榮peech-related鈥� cases initiated under them are still ongoing, it said, referring to the figures released by the interim government. A case under section 57 that TrialWatch is monitoring has been pending since August 2018.
鈥榃hile it is important to prosecute cybercrimes such as hacking, sexual harassment, and other serious offences, Bangladesh鈥檚 cybersecurity laws have been draconian, and we urge the repeal of cases filed under them,鈥� the release quoted CGS executive director Zillur Rahman as saying.
This joint report鈥攖he first in a series on Bangladesh鈥檚 cyber laws鈥攃oncludes that the principle of legality requires the dismissal of all cases pending under the ICT Act because there is no legal basis for them to continue.
鈥楾here is no basis for cases under the ICT Act to continue. Even in the case of ambiguity, the principle of construing criminal laws narrowly and in favour of accused persons should mean that ICT Act cases stand terminated. Resurrection of old cases under the draconian law, especially against journalists, activists, and political opponents, is an abuse of process of law鈥�, said Rebecca Mammen John, TrialWatch expert and senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India.
