Imtiaz Ahmed Kajol

Case Summary

On 23 September 2019, Asaduzzaman Faruk filed a case against Imtiaz Ahmed Kajol (35) under the Digital Security Act 2018 for defaming him through posts on Facebook. Imtiaz had been arrested on the same day in connection to another case for posting anti-government propaganda. The informant of the case, a journalist, alleged that Imtiaz defamed him on social media, leading to social humiliation. Imtiaz sought bail nine times, denied until the High Court granted it after 10 months of jail custody. The charge sheet, submitted on 23 September 2019, accuses Imtiaz under Sections 25/29/31 of the Digital Security Act. The investigation underwent various transfers and delays. The proceeding includes various applications including adding further charges, bail prayers and other procedural measures. Imtiaz claimed that he has been subject to harassment, financial loss, and reputational damage during his 10-month jail custody. His case is still under trial.

Case Details

The FIR shows that one Asaduzzaman Faruk filed a case bearing case no 46/419 at Bhairab police station on 23 September 2019 against Imtiaz Ahmed Kajol under Sections 25 and 29 of the Digital Security Act 2018 for defaming him by posting offensive posts on Facebook. He had been arrested on the same day by the police in two cases filed under the Digital Security Act 2018 in Bhairab for posting anti-government propaganda and ‘misleading’ posts about the law enforcement agencies on social media Facebook and for taunting the Prime Minister. It is claimed by the prosecution that, Kajol also has five other cases against him for various crimes including murder and drugs. He was sent to Kishoreganj Jail on 23 September 2019.

Background

According to the FIR, the informant of the case was the correspondent of the Daily Jugantor, Bhairab and he published a report mentioning the accused Kajol’s name in various news. Following so, allegedly to defame his name on Facebook and other social media, the accused Kajol posted a status saying, “That senior journalist from Bhairab was convicted for one-year confinement and was fined for 6 lac taka. If the same incident involved any member of the BNP, journalists from different areas would create chaos on Facebook. But as the incident involves a journalist, no one is talking about it. Because all journalists are friends. But they consider us who support the BNP as their enemies. I am saying this today because although the last parliament election was a big fraud, not a single journalist of Bhairab covered a neutral news regarding the incident.” Imtiaz also posted other posts to ‘defame’ the informant and allegedly humiliated him socially. Therefore, after collecting evidence and discussing the matter with relatives he filed a case against Imtiaz Ahmed Kajol.

Remand

No remand.

Bail

Imtiaz applied for bail before the Judicial Magistrate Court and the District Session Judge Court but was denied nine times. After applying for bail in the High Court, his petition for bail was granted, and he was released from prison on 19 July 2020, after spending 10 months in jail custody.

Charge sheet

The investigation of this case started on 23 September 2019 and ended on 28 December 2021. According to the charge sheet, the Investigation Officer (IO) Abhijit Chowdhury (Sub-Inspector) of Bhairab police station was the first investigation officer of this case. He interrogated the informant about the case and included the testimonial of one witness in the docket. He arrested Imtiaz and presented before the court. After that, he submitted the seizure list and sent it to the CID office, in Dhaka for forensic examination. Then, he prayed to the Senior Judicial Magistrate to add Section 31 of the DSA to this case to be inserted in the charge sheet.

While the investigation was ongoing, the Investigation Officer was transferred to another place, and the and the charge of investigation was handed over to Sub-Inspector Md. Masudur Rahman of Bhairab police station. When he started investigating the case, the case was transferred to CID for further investigation. On 27 September 2020, Inspector Md. Hedayet Ullah took over the investigation of the case. He drafted the second map and created the index. During further investigation, Md. Jahangir Hossain, Inspector of IT Forensic department, CID, Dhaka stated that, while examining the Facebook ID and seized items, there were posts from the alleged ID named ‘Imtiaz Ahmed Kajol’ and the living area of the ID was Bhairab as well. So, those allegations were corroborated.

As Inspector Hedayet Ullah went for PRL for 12 months from 5 June 2021, Sub-Inspector Md. Mohsin Khan took charge of the investigation on 20 June 2021. After investigating the case and reviewing the proof submitted by Cyber Forensic CID, Dhaka, the Investigation Officer submitted the charge sheet before the court and it stated that the accused Imtiaz Ahmed Kajol found guilty primarily of the offense under Sections 25/29/31 of Digital Security Act 2018 and the case was transferred to Dhaka Cyber Tribunal for trial.

Chronology of Legal Proceeding

1st Hearing : 25 September 2019. Hearing to add section 31 to the Charge sheet. The court granted the prayer to add section 31.2nd Hearing : 27 September 2019. Application to send evidence and permission to examine. The prayer was granted.3rd Hearing : 28 September 2019. Application to shown arrest. The prayer was granted. 4th Hearing : 4 December 2019. Application to extend 15 days for investigation. The prayer was granted.

5th Hearing : 12 July 2021. Regarding taking charge of the investigation. The prayer was granted. 6th Hearing : 3 November 2022. Hearing for Framing Charge. The prayer was granted.7th Hearing : 22 February 2023. Hearing of Witnesses. Testimony has been received by the court.8th Hearing : 20 June 2023. Hearing of Witnesses. Testimony has been received by the court.9th Hearing : 7 January 2024. Hearing of Witnesses. The court fixed the next date for testimony.

Accused’s Statement

Imtiaz Ahmed Kajol is an active social worker and citizen rights activist. He was writing regularly on Facebook against various injustices, corruption and anomalies in society to make people aware. Sometimes those posts went against the current Awami League government and as a result, the local Awami League leaders became resentful. Kajol said “There was a case against Asaduzzaman Faruk, Bhairab correspondent of the newspaper Daily ‘Jugantar’. The judge court convicted him for 1 year of imprisonment and a fine of 6 lac taka.” As he posted about that on Facebook, the informant of the case (Asaduzzaman) claimed he has been defamed and his reputation degraded in the society. Therefore, local Awami League leaders due to previous enmity influenced Asaduzzaman to file a case against him under the Digital Security Act.

He also complained that police officers from the Bhairab Police Station arrested him before the case was filed and brought him to the police station. He shared, “They tied my eyes and face with black cloth and tortured me at the police station. The police officers wanted to know why I wrote against the government’s irregularity, injustice, corruption, and deprivation of voting rights on Facebook.” Later on 23 September 2019, he was sent to jail under Sections 25 and 29 of the DSA.

Notably, while Kajol was in Jail Custody, the Investigation Officer prayed to the Senior Judicial Magistrate court of Kishoreganj for adding Section 31 of the Digital Security Act on the charge sheet of the case as he thought it was necessary. Imtiaz claimed, “They wanted to harass me and confine me for a long time, that’s why they went as far as they could go.” He also said “I was detached from the world and could not do social work due to my stay in jail for 10 months in this case. In total, I suffered from a financial loss of approximately 5 lac taka. Moreover, my reputation in the society has been seriously harmed.” He also said that he was harassed for writing for truth and justice. Imtiaz claimed, “To harass me for a long time, submission of my charge sheet was delayed for no specific reason and Investigation Officers of my case were changing frequently.” He had to attend the hearings on a regular basis. He said, “The harassment even after getting released on bail knows no bounds.”

Current Status of the Accused

The case against Imtiaz is still under trial. The next date for the hearing is fixed for receiving witness testimony on 7 January 2024.