Dhaka, Aug 20 (Just News) : Eleven Nobel laureates including Desmond Tutu and 17 eminent global citizens demand immediate release of photographer Shahidul Alam.
“We urge the government to investigate allegations of unlawful arrest immediately and unconditionally release Shahidul Alam,” said the Nobel laureates in a statement on Sunday.
They also urge the government to immediately release all students who have been arrested after they took to the street for demanding safe roads following the deaths of their two fellows in a Dhaka road crash on 29 July.
The signatories include 1984 Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate Tawakkol Karman, 1976 Nobel Peace Laureate Máiread Maguire, 1976 Nobel Peace Laureate Betty Williams, 1987 Nobel Peace Laureate Oscar Arias, 1993 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine Sir Richard J Roberts, 1996 Nobel Peace Laureate José Ramos-Horta, 1997 Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams, 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi, 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate professor Muhammad Yunus and 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee.
They also raise their joint voice against arbitrary police remand under the draconian ICT Act against Shahidul Alam.
In the late evening of Sunday, 5 August 2018, Shahidul Alam, an internationally decorated photographer who is the spirit behind the development of journalistic photography movement in Bangladesh, an academic and human rights activist, was unlawfully abducted from his home, by law enforcement personnel, without an arrest warrant, the statement reads.
The Nobel laureates urge the government to take every step to ensure human rights of all citizens, including freedom of speech, freedom of media and freedom of association for all.
(JustNews/mi/1300hr.)
