France, Germany deplore imprisonment of Adilur, Elan

France and Germany have expressed regret over the imprisonment of Odhikar Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan and Director ASM Nasiruddin Elan.

A Cyber Tribunal in Dhaka sentenced Adilur and Nasiruddin to two years' imprisonment each in a case filed under the Information and Communication Technology Act 2006.

Jan Janowski, deputy head of mission of the German embassy in Bangladesh, shared the joint statement of the two countries on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.

The French and German embassies in Dhaka in the statement said "France and Germany are deeply attached to respect for the rule of law as well as to the democratic acquis in Bangladesh and that they would continue to support defenders of human rights in Bangladesh, like throughout the world".

"We regret the Bangladeshi court's decision regarding Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan. We have expressed our concern to the authorities on this situation and will maintain our dialogue with them on this case," the statement said.

"A vibrant civil society is essential to the prosperity of every nation," the statement added.

The two countries recalled that Adilur Rahman Khan, on behalf of the human rights organization Odhikar, was the 2017 recipient of the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law.

sajibur@gmail.com