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Thursday, August 9, 2018

Have the police falsified the FIR against Shahidul?


What are the police actually alleging against Shahidul Alam, the photographer arrested on Sunday evening?

A look at the First Information Report (the criminal complaint made by the police) suggests that Shahidul did not say what the police claim that he said. The police have seemingly distorted his words, apparently falsifying the FIR.

Below is - word for word - what the FIR claims Shahidul said on his Facebook page. This is the very basis of the allegation against him. This part of the FIR is written in English so it is not translated (see image above).

The particular text set out in the FIR is almost certainly supposed to be what Shahidul said on Al Jazeera Television in an interview broadcast a few hours before he was arrested since it very closely follows the interview. 

The crucial apparent falsifications are highlighted in bold and explained below.
"The Present AL govt. is non elected and so do not have any mandate to continue, Bank looting is conducted by the people in power and their associates. Extra Judicial killing is conducted every now and then. Disappearances are common pheonomena, Quota system continues to facilitate only the people in power. The Quota Movement is subdued brutally. In the safe Road Movement police invited the armed BCL student to fight the unarmed innocent students. Female students are taken and then disappearing. Many innocent students are made injured by BCL students and police. Personally he believes that without the care taker Government no Free, Fair and Neutral Election is not possible in Bangladesh. So the present government must be over thrown."
You can read the transcript of what Shahidul actually said here.
1. He does not say the government does "not have any mandate to continue". He says: "the government does not really have a mandate ..." An important distinction. 
2. He simply refers to "bank looting". He does not say that it is "conducted by the people in power and their associates." 
3. He only refers to "disappearances" happening, He does not say that they "are common phenomena." 
4. He discusses the Quota Movement but does not say it was "subdued" or that anything was done "brutally." In fact Shahidul says in the interview that the movement came to an end when the prime minister agreed with the student demands. 
5. This line is completely false - he did not say this: "Female students are taken and then disappearing," 
6. This line is completely false - he did not say this:  "Personally he believes that without the care taker Government no Free, Fair and Neutral Election is not possible in Bangladesh.

7. This line is completely false - he did not say this: "So the present government must be over thrown."
Lets see whether the police - and the government - can explain this?


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