Three global rights watchdogs have appealed to the international community to force Bangladesh to immediately drop criminal charges against two top members of human rights organisation "Odhikar".
Amnesty International, International Commission of Jurists and Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a joint statement, called upon Bangladesh to stop harassing workers and activists of "Odhikar".
"The international community should speak up and press the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to end its harassment and intimidation of Odhikar," they said in the statement.
Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan, secretary and director of Odhikar respectively, have been charged under the Information and Technology Act for publishing a report on violence and fatalities by security forces during a protest by the ultra-radical Hefajat-e-Islami on May 5-6 last year.
Odhikar's report claimed that 61 people were killed in the overnight protest, a figure the government vehemently denied.
Khan was arrested on August 11 and detained for 62 days before the High Court granted him bail. Elan was also released on bail, pending a hearing on 22 January.
Police also raided Odhikar's offices across Bangladesh and confiscated computers and other materials.
"With the politically motivated witch-hunt of Odhikar, Bangladeshi authorities are essentially shooting the messenger and saying that its security forces are above the law," said an official of Amnesty International.
"Democracies should not attempt to shut down criticism by locking up human rights activists," Human Rights Watch said.
