Journalist Shawkat Mahmud Placed on Five-Day Remand

The court has granted a five-day remand for Shawkat Mahmud, former president of the National Press Club and secretary general of Janata Party Bangladesh. Yesterday, after a hearing in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Ramna Model Police Station, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Fahmida Khandaker Anna issued the order.

Shawkat Mahmud was arrested in the same case in which Bangladeshi-origin U.S. citizen Enayet Karim Chowdhury was arrested on charges of being involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the government. During the remand hearing, Shawkat Mahmud denied the allegations, saying, “This government is our desired government. After this government came to power, it withdrew 60 cases that had been filed against me. Why would I plan to overthrow this government? The allegation of a government-overthrowing conspiracy is unbelievable. I have been a journalist for 35 years. I have been elected general secretary of the Press Club six times and president five times. For the past 15 years, I have waged an uncompromising struggle against dictatorship. During the fascist government, I was imprisoned for one and a half years. At that time, 70 cases were filed against me.”

Referring to Enayet Karim Chowdhury in court, he said, “I was not involved in any terrorist activities. The name of U.S. citizen Enayet Karim has come up. Check his phone to see whether I have any connection with him. My phone has been checked for five days. There is no evidence that I was involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the government. I did politics with the BNP. During the previous government, disagreements arose with the party (BNP) regarding the process of the movement. That is why my membership was revoked. Citing his illness in court, he said, ‘I have had six bypass surgeries. I am suffering greatly in jail. At first, I was taken to the jail hospital, but later I was removed. I am currently without treatment. The judiciary is independent now. You (the judge) will judge prudently. Whatever order you give, I will accept with respect.”

On Sunday afternoon, Shawkat Mahmud was arrested by the Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Police (DB) from the Malibagh area. In the same case, Bangladeshi-origin U.S. citizen Enayet Karim Chowdhury was arrested earlier. The next day, the investigating officer, DB Inspector Akhtar Morshed, sought a 10-day remand for him, but the hearing was postponed due to the absence of the main case file. Later, the remand hearing was held on Thursday.

The remand petition stated that Shawkat Mahmud, in collusion with Enayet Karim Chowdhury, was planning to overthrow the current interim government, working on behalf of a foreign intelligence agency, and holding secret meetings with various political parties and individuals. Interrogation is necessary to learn with which individuals or organizations he held such “consultations.”

Enayet Karim was detained on September 13 from Minto Road in the capital. During interrogation, he claimed to be a contract agent of a foreign intelligence agency and confessed to planning a government change after entering the country. Police claim to have found “conspiratorial” information against the government from his two seized phones.

Four more individuals have been arrested for alleged involvement in the case. They are—SM Golam Mostafa Azad, Kazi Md. Mamunur Rashid, secretary general of the Raushan-led faction of the Jatiya Party, journalist Md. Azhar Ali Sarkar, and Rifat-ul-Islam Pavel, central joint general secretary of Juba Sanghati. All of them are currently in jail.