By IANS,
Dhaka : Renowned Bangladeshi writer Shahriar Kabir, charged in 2001 with sedition for speaking out in favour of religious minorities, has been exonerated by a Dhaka court.
Judge Mohammad Azizul Haque of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court passed the order, The Daily Star said Friday. The charges against him in the December 2001 case were “fabricated” and “concocted”, the government told the court.
The sedition charge was slapped on Kabir when he returned from Kolkata on Nov 22, 2001, after he had met Hindu refugees who had fled Bangladesh in the wake of violence in the parliamentary poll.
Kabir wanted to organise a South Asian conference against religious extremism and had met then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to seek support.
He was arrested at the Zia International Airport on suspicion. Police seized some cassettes and CDs on torture on minorities people immediately after the 2001 national election.
Earlier this year, Kabir was acquitted of sedition charges in another case filed in November 2001.