Govt challenges HC order on sending Shahidul to BSMMU

The government today filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking stay on the High Court order that directed the authorities concerned to send detained photographer Shahidul Alam to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) for his treatment.

After a brief hearing, Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division of the SC Justice Hasan Foez Siddique sent the petition to the full bench of the appx court for its hearing tomorrow.

Photographer Shahidul Alam was taken to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) around 9:30am today following the High Court order.

Yesterday, the HC directed the authorities concerned of the government and police to immediately send the detained photographer to BSMMU for his treatment.

In response to a writ petition filed by his wife Rahnuma Ahmed, the HC also ordered the BSMMU authorities to examine Shahidul's physical condition and submit a report before the court by 10:30am tomorrow.

Shahidul Alam was picked up by plainclothes men on Sunday night and was placed on a seven-day remand by a Dhaka court on Monday in a case filed against him under the controversial Section 57 of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act. He was also “tortured in police custody.”

The bench passed the order following the writ petition filed challenging a lower court order that placed Shahidul on remand in the case.

Hours before he was detained from his Dhanmondi residence, Shahidul came under attack allegedly by Bangladesh Chhatra League men while videoing an attack on students campaigning for road safety near City College in Dhanmondi Saturday afternoon.

Soon after the incident, he took shelter at a nearby guesthouse from where he went live on his Facebook page to share the incident.

“I was attacked a little while ago near City College because I was taking a video of Chhatra League students shouting 'Joy Bangla' and slightly before that attacking students,” he said in the video clip which went viral.

Later, Shahidul uploaded a photo of his vandalised camera on Facebook, saying “Remains of my OSMO,” hash-tagging “we want justice”.

Shahidul, an internationally renowned photographer and a social activist, gave an interview to Al Jazeera English where he criticised the government's role in the ongoing student movement.