THE LATEST FROM INSIDE
BANGLADESH:
By Richard Benkin
The latest news about Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
is not good. As Bangladesh's lower courts are notoriously corrupt, Choudhury's
lawyer has always pinned his hopes on Bangladesh's High Court, but there is no
indication when his case might be heard. The longer Shoaib remains in prison,
the more dangerous things get.
His medical condition continues to worsen, as a High Court order for medical treatment goes ignored. Temperatures are 100-degree temperatures and, Choudhury says, "I am not even allowed to use a fan." Family businesses have been ordered closed, mobs sacked them with impunity, and the police blamed the Choudhurys for their "alliance with the Jews." Banks refuse credit, and Sohail Choudhury is refused employment. He has asked after any foreign companies in Bangladesh that might offer him work. Then there is the deteriorating social and political situation. After the opposition demanded the government disband, the government responded with mass arrests. Then a prominent opposition MP was gunned down in Dhaka followed by rioting and the imposition of martial law. Major roads and businesses have been ordered shut, and armed troops and militia patrol the streets. Law and order is breaking down, and armed militia has invaded the prison and "badly harassed" prisoners, according to Sohail Choudhury. Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury's cellmates include prominent journalists and politicians. If there is more violence, even revolution, it is not clear what might happen to them. Choudhury's supporters are afraid that he might turn up "shot while trying to escape." Do not stand by idly. Choudhury urges us to use this site and send letters of protest, pass messages of hope to the family, sign the online petition, and involve as many people as we can.
Our fight against injustice has settled into a war
of attrition between a government with its formidable arsenal, and a lone
family with but its own limited resources. Agents nabbed Shoaib Choudhury six
months ago, subjecting him to incessant interrogation and brutal conditions. He
was slandered publicly, his home and business raided, his brother attacked.
Threats against the family became so frequent that
his two young children, Priyanka and Hanzalah, had to be kept at home. Recently
that stopped. Choudhury's enemies have
moved on, content that they can wait him out.
For over six months, the Choudhurys have had no
income. The family business was destroyed, and banks refuse them credit to
rebuild. Sohail Choudhury searches for employment, but is virtually
blacklisted. All the while, legal fees, costs of replenishing their sacked
possessions, and daily living costs are exhausting their meager savings. When I
spoke with the family recently, it was clear that if the situation is not
desperate yet, things are getting there. Sohail requests any help in finding
income for his brother's family, his aged mother, and himself. And inside
prison, the Bangladesh government continues to refuse the court-ordered medical
treatment Shoaib needs so badly to prevent permanent physical damage.
But the Choudhurys have one thing the government does not have: a right and just cause. They maintain an unswerving faith that God will see them through this difficult time and bless their efforts at peace and understanding; and against those who preach hate, violence, and the belief that God provided His children only one way to worship Him. And they have us. Your letters and support strengthen them to keep standing up for justice, confident that we stand with them.
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury has been imprisoned for
over six months now for daring to say Jews and Muslims can live together. I
spoke extensively with the US State Department, which might now intervene in
this desperate situation and human rights violation. YOU CAN HELP SAVE THIS MAN AND HIS FAMILY.
The attacks have turned into a war of attrition. The
family is denied any income, as reported here and elsewhere, and the situation
is becoming intolerable. Despite court orders, prison officials refuse Shoaib
needed medical treatment; and he suffers because of it. The family soon will
face irreversible damage. The best chance of preventing that is an open hearing
before Bangladesh's High Court, opening the police's secret files. With a death
sentence in the balance, and the family facing disaster, we request the State
Department to prevail upon the Bangladeshi government to rectify this human
rights travesty, to stop persecuting this man for advocating peace among Jews
and Muslims, to allow him to resume his work as a journalist, to allow him a
fair and open hearing before the High Court, to give him his freedom. Please
send an urgent message to the US State Department.
In the subject line, write URGENT: Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, and in the body, the Desk for South Asia. Ask the State Department to demand an open hearing for this innocent political prisoner before that government is responsible for a human tragedy on top of its human rights violation. If you need any further information, please contact me.
We have had our first big break in the effort to
free Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, our journalist friend and colleague, in a
memo from the Bangladesh Prime Minister's office, ordering that the
investigation and his possible release be expedited. Your action has helped,
but prison and police authorities have ignored previous orders in this case.
YOU CAN HELP SAVE THIS MAN
AND HIS FAMILY. Please urge the US State
Department to communicate the US desire to see justice done in this
case and that the PM's order is carried out speedily to rectify this human
rights travesty, stop his persecution for advocating peace among Jews and
Muslims, and allow him to resume his work as a journalist. In the subject line,
write URGENT: SALAH UDDIN SHOAIB CHOUDHURY, and in the body, the Desk for South
Asia. There is also an updated letter to the PM at this site, thanking
her for her intervention on behalf of human rights and justice, and urging that
her order be implemented speedily. If you need any further information, please contact me.
Two months after the PM ordered Shoaib's case
expedited, Bangladesh authorities continue to ignore her and this tragedy.
Shoaib health deteriorates further; the family's financial status remains
difficult; and he still faces a capital charge with neither hearing date nor
evidence. Yet, he writes of his concern for his people not his own misfortune.
Fortunately, more groups are
taking notice. Freedom Now, attorneys who help prisoners of conscience, are
taking up his case. Reporters sans frontieres has offered to transfer
your donations to the family. And the Committee to Protect Journalists has
again protested to Bangladesh authorities. You can help by urging the US State
Department to communicate its displeasure and by linking to an
updated letter to the PM at
this site. If you wish to help the family or want more information or a speaker
for your group, please contact me.
Three months after the PM ordered Shoaib's case
expedited, authorities continue to ignore her and this tragedy. Shoaib's health
deteriorates further; the family's financial status remains difficult; and now
the High Court has denied him bail because the matter is "under investigation."
He languishes with no trial or release date.
THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! The
government's charge is baseless. I have a copy of the material it has cited,
which could be dispatched within minutes. Keeping Choudhury in jail even a
minute longer is extra-legal, punitive, and done specifically to silence him
and anyone else who would dare oppose hatred and lobby for peace. Communicate
your outrage via the letters at this site, by
calling your representative and demanding action, or contacting me.
On the anniversary of Shoaib’s arrest, I met with
ministers at the Bangladesh embassy in Washington. The meeting was cordial and hopeful; although I pressed my demand
to immediately rectify this human rights travesty that was threatening to
become a human rights disaster for both my friend and for Bangladesh among the
nations.
For throughout the meeting,
no one could explain why Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury remains in prison. The Prime Minister has ordered the case
expedited. But radical forces inside
Bangladesh today are trying to take control of the government and thwart the
people and their traditions. I will
continue investigating the matter and pressing our case. You can help by calling your representative
and demanding action, or contacting me.
While there has been no overt response to follow-up
inquiries subsequent to my meeting at Bangladesh’s Washington embassy, we might
be seeing some movement. Last week, the Criminal Investigation Department
issued its Investigation Report, which the Choudhurys believe will be presented
to the court soon.
The Report states that
"nothing negative has been found.”
This is in conformance with what the government admitted to me and if
that is what the government produces; we should expect an immediate
release. But if they present the first
investigation report, as well, that stated falsely and with no evidence that
Shoaib, the outcome is not clear. You can help with letters, your prayers, or
by contacting me.
Still no word on the torturously slow legal movement
in Bangladesh. The Criminal Investigation Department’s Report states that
"nothing negative has been found.” If presented, that could mean Shoaib’s
release. But if the CID files the
original, unsubstantiated report, calling Shoaib a spy for Israel, it could be
used as a ruse to keep him in prison indefinitely.
The PA representative in
Bangladesh, Shahta Zarab is also trying to block his release. And so Shoaib waits without due process, and
sends a poem written from prison, expressing his continued faith in God and
peace. Please block the forces opposed
to peace and freedom from continuing this nightmare. You can help with letters
of protest, letters to the editor, your prayers, or by contacting me for
articles or speeches.
Our concerns have been borne out; justice in
Bangladesh remains elusive. Though an
official 14-month investigation found “nothing BAD…about the character of the
accused [Shoaib],” the government submitted instead the initial unfounded
charges that “he is an agent of the Israeli Intelligence Agency." Shoaib
remains behind bars, accused of a capital offense without evidence.
One senior investigator told
his family that even without a legal basis to proceed, powerful Islamists
including as we learned earlier, the PA representative in Dhaka, brought
tremendous pressure to block his release—hardly a sign of a “peace process,” an
organization that defends imprisoned journalists is getting involved, and a
growing number of Muslims and NGO are getting involved. Join them by signing his petition, sending letters
of protest, or by contacting me for articles or speeches.
Our concerns have been borne out; justice in
Bangladesh remains elusive. Though an
official 14-month investigation found "nothing BAD about [Shoaib's]
character," the government submitted the initial unfounded charges that
"he is an agent of the Israeli Intelligence Agency," leaving him
behind bars, falsely accused of a capital offense.
On April 8, US Congressman
Mark Kirk (R-IL) and I will address this injustice with the Bangladesh
ambassador. Add the power of your
voice to ours by emailing Amb. Syed Hasan Ahmad. Urge your Senators or Representatives to address this matter or
see me when I'm in Washington. Provide
them with this web site and my email address (drrbenkin@freechoudhury.com).
This man and his family still suffer. Please
help them!
On April 8, US Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL) and I
addressed this injustice with the Bangladeshi ambassador, Amb. Shamsher Chowdhury. While I was concerned about some of the
statements made about the conditions of Shoaib’s incarceration, the meeting
overall, I believe, marked a turning point in this case.
Kudos to Congressman Kirk
for using his moral leadership to help place this issue on the government’s
agenda. The Ambassador was receptive
and said he would confer with his government on both specific and general
matters raised. While ACTIONS will tell
the real value of these efforts, we can take heart that the government is
finally looking seriously at this case. Urge your Senators
or Representatives to get
involved and remain vigilant.
By the grace of the Almighty, Salah Uddin Shoaib
Choudhury was released from prison on April 30, 2005, 17 months to the day
after he was arrested! I spoke with
Shoaib not two hours after his release, and he is in excellent spirits. He thanks all who have supported him in his
struggle and looks forward hopefully to the future.
The government of Bangladesh
has moved very positively toward supporting the same principles of freedom and
interfaith understanding, and its democratic principles. Shoaib’s supporters are urged to send
letters of thanks to US Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL), Bangladeshi
Prime Minster Begum Khaleda Zia, and Bangladeshi Ambassador
Shamsher Chowdhury.
You also can contact us, too.
SHOAIB HAS BEEN FREED!
During his 17-month imprisonment, Salah Uddin Shoaib
Choudhury kept a diary. We are now in
the process of obtaining a publisher and proceeding to edit and refine the
work. Shoaib is asking people to send
us statements, sentiments, comments, about their reactions, actions, and feelings.
If you want you can send a
photograph, as well. Please send all
such material to me at this site. NOW
THAT SHOAIB IS FREE, WE ARE CONTINUING TO FURTHER OUR MESSAGE OF PEACE, INTERFAITH
UNDERSTANDING, AND A NEW ERA OF RELATIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE MUSLIM WORLD.
At the time of Shoaib’s arrest, his journal’s
publication was suspended. Originally,
an entertainment tabloid, Blitz eventually
became the vehicle for Shoaib’s bold and insightful advocacy. It was the first
Bangladeshi publication to interview an Israeli, and it was there that
Bangladeshis terrorism condemned and interfaith dialogue urged.
Today, more Bangladeshis,
including members of the government, are coming to see the wisdom of those
words. Now, with the government’s
blessing, Blitz, has resumed
publication. Be part of this incredible
effort. You can go to the Blitz web site by clicking this