Release Shahidul Alam

It is really unfortunate that police have arrested Shahidul Alam, an internationally acclaimed photographer, on charges of making provocative comments. If people like him are detained for speaking up, what would happen to general people?

If anything, the government has simply managed to hurt its image even further by arresting him. Already, a number of globally prominent personalities including Noam Chomsky and Arundhati Roy urged the government to release him and withdraw charges against him. Global human rights and journalist organisations such as Amnesty International, Pen International and CPJ have made similar calls. We hope that the government release him immediately and refrain from harassing him any further.

Kabir Khan, Chittagong