Cultural activist Shamim placed on one-day remand over 'defamation of religion'

A court has granted a one-day remand for cultural activist Shamim Ashraf, 38, who was arrested in Mymensingh on charges of making derogatory remarks about religion on the social media platform Facebook. The order was issued today, Thursday, at around 12 noon by Mymensingh Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Md Shariful Haque.

Inspector of Mymensingh Court Police, PSM Mostasinur Rahman, told Prothom Alo that the investigating officer had applied for a seven-day remand yesterday, Wednesday afternoon to interrogate Shamim Ashraf in connection with a case filed under laws related to defamation of religion and cyber security. The court had not held the remand hearing on Wednesday, yesterday but scheduled it for today, Thursday. After the hearing today, the court granted a one-day remand.

On Monday night, Md Yasin Arafat, Assistant Organising Secretary of the Mymensingh Metropolitan branch of Khelafat Majlis, filed a written complaint with the Kotwali Model Police Station in the city against Shamim Ashraf on charges of defaming religion.

The complaint was later registered as a case under sections related to hurting religious sentiments and the Cyber Security Act. Inspector (Investigation) of Kotwali Model Police Station, Md Saiful Islam, confirmed the matter to Prothom Alo.

Yasin Arafat, the plaintiff in the case, said that Shamim Ashraf’s derogatory remarks about paradise (heaven) had deeply hurt the Muslim community. The comments have sparked widespread criticism on social media. He added that, out of respect for the law and to demand justice, he filed a written complaint with the police.

Shamim Ashraf allegedly made a derogatory comment in response to someone’s remark on one of his own Facebook posts. When the comment spread on Monday afternoon, many people took to Facebook demanding his arrest and punishment. Later that night, after 9 PM, Shamim Ashraf made another post on Facebook, saying: “Please view my comment, which has hurt people, with a forgiving heart.”

Around 9:45pm, he was arrested by the Detective Branch (DB) police from the Amlapara area of the city.

Shamim Ashraf runs a printing business called ‘Graffiti’ and also serves as the president of a cultural organisation named ‘Porompora’.

After detaining him, DB police conducted a search at the business he operates. He was later handed over to the Kotwali Model Police Station the same night.