Dear friendWe are reaching out for help….We would request you ask any organisation/ Government bodies that you know, to write to the in-country Bangladesh High Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highlighting his abduction, torture and detention.Address:Hon. Minister Mr. Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, MPAddress:Segunbagicha, Dhaka 1000, BangladeshPhone: 02-9556020-7, 02-9554112-6, 02-9562950-4Fax: 9555283 & 9572259 (incoming) & 9562557-8 (outgoing)Email: [email protected]In brief, (pl use what you need):Internationally renowned photographer Dr Shahidul Alam, Managing Director, Drik, was forcibly abducted from his house in Dhanmondi, Dhaka after 10pm on 5 Aug 2018. According to security guards of the apartment building and other eyewitness reports, there were roughly 30 to 35 men, in plain clothes, who claimed to be from the Detective Branch (DB), who went upstairs, brought down Dr Alam, who was screaming as he was forcibly pushed into the waiting car, a HiAce, with the words Popular Life Insurance, written on the outside. They taped up the CCTV camera, and took away the CCTV camera footage. The guards were manhandled and locked up. His partner Rahnuma Ahmed, was in a neighbouring flat, raced downstairs on hearing the scream, but the car carrying him and two other cars waiting outside, sped away.
Shahidul was produced before the judge today, 6th August, where he gave a detailed account of his torture at the hands of the police. He has been remanded for 7 days.We demand his immediate release.
Photo agency Chairman Shahidul Alam forcibly removed from his home
Dr Shahidul Alam, photographer, human rights activist and chairman of the Majority World photo library and Drik photo agency, has been forcibly removed from his home by law enforcement officers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Some reports say he was removed soon after giving an interview on Al Jazeera about student protests and others say he is being held for spreading propaganda against the government & spreading false information about the ongoing student protest on Facebook. Some reports suggest he is unable to walk and Majority World reported yesterday “The best news we have heard in the last 2 days HC orders shifting Shahidul to hospital”. A petition to have Shahidul freed has been set up using the hashtag #FreeShahidulAlam
Here’s what we have from Majority World: …more when we have it.