Asif’s hearing ends, order awaited

A Dhaka court is expected to come up with a verdict on the bail petition of blogger Asif Mohiuddin detained for allegedly posting on the Internet ‘inflammatory material on sensitive religious issues’.

The court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Tareq Moinul Islam Bhuiyan is also expected to hear the bail petitions of other three bloggers detained on similar charges.

On Wednesday, police produced Asif after interrogating him for four days. Subrata Adhikari Shuvo, Mashiur Rahman Biplob and Rasel Parvez were also produced on expiry of their seven-day remands.

The court had sent them to jail and fixed Monday for further hearing on their bail petitions.

An order on Asif’s bail petition will be delivered in the afternoon, the court said Monday.

It also ordered detective police Inspectors Sazzad Hossain and Mainul Islam to be present during hearing on the bail petitions of the three other bloggers, because they had interrogated them in custody.

Shuvo, Biplob and Parvez were picked up from the capital on Apr 1 after the Hifazat-e Islam demanded arrest of 'atheist bloggers' for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

The following day, police was given seven days remand to interrogate them by a court and their bail petitions were rejected.

On Apr 4, a Dhaka court granted police three days to question Asif, a day after he was called to the detective police office.

His remand was extended by another day later.

The bloggers have led the movement at Shahbagh demanding death penalty for all convicted war criminals. They have also called for a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and other religion-driven parties, thus drawing the ire of the Islamists.

Their movement eventually spread across Bangladesh.

The Hifazat-e-Islam, widely believed to be backed by Jamaat-e-Islami, produced a list of 10 ‘atheist bloggers’, with Asif Mohiuddin’s name in it. They said the bloggers should be hanged.

Asif was attacked previously in January presumably for his blogs.

Of the bloggers, Shuvo is an MA student of the Dhaka University, and Biplob and Rasel are former students of the premier university.