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Alert

Journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Chaudhury to stand trial for sedition

(WiPC/IFEX) - The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN has been informed that the trial of journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Chaudhury is to start in early March 2006. Chaudhury was arrested on 29 November 2003 and charged with sedition for his critical writings. He was released on bail on 2 May 2005. The charge carries a maximum penalty of death or thirty years' imprisonment.

International PEN protests the charges against Chaudhury, and urges that they be dropped in recognition of his right to freedom of expression, as enshrined in Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

According to PEN's information, Chaudhury, editor of the weekly tabloid "Blitz", was arrested by security personnel at Zia International Airport, Dhaka, whilst en route for Israel to participate in a conference with the Hebrew Writers Association.

Chaudhury was planning to address a writers' symposium in Tel Aviv entitled "Bridges Through Culture", and was scheduled to speak about "the role of media in establishing peace". Bangladesh has no diplomatic relations with Israel and travel to Israel is illegal for Bangladeshi citizens.

Intelligence forces claim that documents found in Chaudhury's briefcase - in particular, the text of his speech and reports on the human rights situation in Bangladesh - provide sufficient evidence to support the charges against him. He is accused of having links to an Israeli intelligence agency and is said to have been under surveillance for several months. Chaudhury is known for his work on improving relations between Muslim countries and Israel. He has written articles against anti-Israeli attitudes in Muslim countries and about the rise of al-Qaeda in Bangladesh, which had reportedly sparked debate in the Bangladeshi press and government prior to his arrest.

Chaudhury was repeatedly denied a bail hearing before being released on bail in May 2005, following appeals by PEN USA, of which he is an honorary member.

Chaudhury has also been named head of the Bangladeshi branch of the International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace (IFLAC), an organisation of writers who campaign for peace.