Section 57 decried

Section 57: If a person deliberately publishes any material in the electronic form that causes deterioration of law and order, prejudices the image of the State or person or hurts religious beliefs, the offender will be punished with a maximum of 14 years and a minimum of seven years of imprisonment. The crime is non-bailable.

Top legal experts said yesterday that the Information and Communication Technology Act is a tool of repression and has been enacted to harass people. They emphasised the need for removal of Section 57 of the act to reduce ‘harassment of the common people’. The experts also opined that a quarter with vested interests abused the act by taking advantage of loopholes in it.
According to Section 57, if a person deliberately publishes any material in the electronic form that causes deterioration of law and order, prejudices the image of the State or person or hurts religious beliefs, the offender will be punished with a maximum of 14 years and a minimum of seven years of imprisonment. It also suggested that the crime is non-bailable.
Top constitutional expert Dr Shahdeen Malik urged the government to remove Section 57 of the act, saying, “The clause is taking the country back to the medieval ages”.
"I hoped that parliament would not pass the amendment to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act-2006, as Section 57 has made it ‘ridiculous’. But, unfortunately, the act was passed by parliament. Now the government should remove Section 57 considering the greater interest of the people," he said.
A third party can file cases in most of the incidents, which is against the spirit of the rule of law, he said. Shahdeen Malik said

punishment for lying was abolished from the world 200 years ago, but the government is creating such a law again, which is against the secular concept of the state.
Barrister Tanjib-ul Alam told The Independent that in no other country does a Facebook posting or posting in any other social media warrant a minimum of seven years and a maximum of 14 years' prison sentence. The ICT act must be amended.
Referring to the arrest of journalist Probir Sikder, he said a third person filed the case against him misusing
the law.
"According to the provision of the law, the case should have been filed by the minister concerned against Probir, if the minister felt harassed following the Facebook status posted by the journalist. But we saw that the case was filed by the Public Prosecutor of the Faridpur court misusing the law," he added.
Alam also pointed out that no scope has been kept in the law to relate the punishment to the magnitude of the crime. Freedom of speech, as mentioned in the constitution, is controlled by the law, he added.
He also said that the original ICT act already served to undermine human rights, but the new amendments make the law nothing short of ‘draconian’. If the government does not bring an amendment immediately, the common people will be harassed repeatedly, he added.
Alam also said that the government must repeal or amend the amended ICT Act because it is being used to assault freedom of expression and freedom from arbitrary detention.
Barrister Jotyrmoy Barua said most of the time a third person files cases under the act, which is against the spirit of law. The cases, which were filed under this act should be investigated thoroughly as most of the cases were not filed properly, he added.
Barua echoed the views of Malik and Alam, saying that Section 57 of the act should be removed for the sake of the country’s people.
Barrister Sara Hossain said more than 60 cases have been filed under this act in the meantime, and some people have already been sentenced to imprisonment.
"If anyone is defamed by a Facebook status or in any other way through the Internet, sufferers must file cases against the accused. But we have seen that mostly it is a third person who files a case under this act, which is illegal," she noted.
On August 12, a Dhaka court sentenced Jahangirnagar University teacher Muhammad Ruhul Amin Khandaker to three years in prison for desiring the death of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a Facebook post. In a trial in absentia, the court also fined him Tk 10,000, failure to pay which would increase his prison term by another six months. He has been staying in Australia since 2009 on study leave. He is studying at Perth's Curtin University for almost three years now.
Bangla Daily Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman and some other journalists, including Probir Sikder, were also arrested under this Act.

Section 57 decried

Section 57: If a person deliberately publishes any material in the electronic form that causes deterioration of law and order, prejudices the image of the State or person or hurts religious beliefs, the offender will be punished with a maximum of 14 years and a minimum of seven years of imprisonment. The crime is non-bailable.

Top legal experts said yesterday that the Information and Communication Technology Act is a tool of repression and has been enacted to harass people. They emphasised the need for removal of Section 57 of the act to reduce harassment of the common people. The experts also opined that a quarter with vested interests abused the act by taking advantage of loopholes in it. According to Section 57, if a person deliberately publishes any material in the electronic form that causes deterioration of law and order, prejudices the image of the State or person or hurts religious beliefs, the offender will be punished with a maximum of 14 years and a minimum of seven years of imprisonment. It also suggested that the crime is non-bailable. Top constitutional expert Dr Shahdeen Malik urged the government to remove Section 57 of the act, saying, The clause is taking the country back to the medieval ages. I hoped that parliament would not pass the amendment to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act-2006, as Section 57 has made it ridiculous. But, unfortunately, the act was passed by parliament. Now the government should remove Section 57 considering the greater interest of the people, he said. A third party can file cases in most of the incidents, which is against the spirit of the rule of law, he said. Shahdeen Malik said punishment for lying was abolished from the world 200 years ago, but the government is creating such a law again, which is against the secular concept of the state. Barrister Tanjib-ul Alam told The Independent that in no other country does a Facebook posting or posting in any other social media warrant a minimum of seven years and a maximum of 14 years prison sentence. The ICT act must be amended. Referring to the arrest of journalist Probir Sikder, he said a third person filed the case against him misusing the law. According to the provision of the law, the case should have been filed by the minister concerned against Probir, if the minister felt harassed following the Facebook status posted by the journalist. But we saw that the case was filed by the Public Prosecutor of the Faridpur court misusing the law, he added. Alam also pointed out that no scope has been kept in the law to relate the punishment to the magnitude of the crime. Freedom of speech, as mentioned in the constitution, is controlled by the law, he added. He also said that the original ICT act already served to undermine human rights, but the new amendments make the law nothing short of draconian. If the government does not bring an amendment immediately, the common people will be harassed repeatedly, he added. Alam also said that the government must repeal or amend the amended ICT Act because it is being used to assault freedom of expression and freedom from arbitrary detention. Barrister Jotyrmoy Barua said most of the time a third person files cases under the act, which is against the spirit of law. The cases, which were filed under this act should be investigated thoroughly as most of the cases were not filed properly, he added. Barua echoed the views of Malik and Alam, saying that Section 57 of the act should be removed for the sake of the countrys people. Barrister Sara Hossain said more than 60 cases have been filed under this act in the meantime, and some people have already been sentenced to imprisonment. If anyone is defamed by a Facebook status or in any other way through the Internet, sufferers must file cases against the accused. But we have seen that mostly it is a third person who files a case under this act, which is illegal, she noted. On August 12, a Dhaka court sentenced Jahangirnagar University teacher Muhammad Ruhul Amin Khandaker to three years in prison for desiring the death of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a Facebook post. In a trial in absentia, the court also fined him Tk 10,000, failure to pay which would increase his prison term by another six months. He has been staying in Australia since 2009 on study leave. He is studying at Perths Curtin University for almost three years now. Bangla Daily Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman and some other journalists, including Probir Sikder, were also arrested under this Act.