Dhaka move to toughen cyber laws criticised

By Mizan Rahman/DhakaThe Information Communication Technology (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013, approved by the Bangladesh cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last Monday, has drawn flak from various quarters.Usually the president issues an ordinance having the powers of a law if the parliament is not in session. However, what transpired in the approval of the draft ordinance to be issued by President Abdul Maid just before the legislature begins its session on September 11 still remains a mystery.The ordinance proposes to empower law enforcers to arrest any individual flouting the ICT laws without a warrant and raises the maximum punishment to 14 years.In the original Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act- 2006, enacted by the BNP-Jamaat government, the maximum punishment was 10 years’ jail and a fine of 10mn taka. Besides, police had to seek permission from the authorities to file a case and arrest any person involved in crimes covered under the law.The amendments, okayed in a regular cabinet meeting, envisage a minimum jail term of 7 years.In the original act, termed by many as repressive, offences were bailable. These will now become non-bailable.“Some crimes were non-cognisable under the existing act,” Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain told reporters after the meeting at the Bangladesh Secretariat. “But the new act will make these cognisable. (This means) the police will be able to arrest a suspect without a warrant. But they will have to produce the arrested person before the court within 24 hours.”