Editors’ council to form human chain Monday

Staff Correspondent: The editors’ council has announced to form a human chain programme demanding amendment to nine sections of the recently passed Digital Security Act, 2018.

They will form the human chain in front of Jatiya Press Club at 11:00am on Monday (October 15).

Editors’ council member and Bhorer Kagoj editor Shyamal Dutta announced the programme at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital on Saturday.

The programme was supposed to be held on September 29. But it was postponed as Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu invited the Editors' Council to sit with him and others.

After a meeting with the Editors’ Council on September 30, Law Minister Anisul Huq said the Editors' Council’s objections to nine sections of the ‘Digital Security Bill’ and its demand for amending those would be placed before the Cabinet for discussions.

However, President Abdul Hamid assented to the much-talked- about Digital Security Bill making it a law on October 8.

On Saturday, Shyamal Dutta said in a written statement that they think it obviously violation of commitment. The editors’ council will form the postponed human chain on October 15.

Sections 8, 21, 25, 28, 29, 31, 32, 43, and 53 of the Digital Security Act must be amended appropriately to safeguard the freedom of media and freedom of speech, he added.


risingbd/Dhaka/October 13, 2018/Mahidi/A K Azad