BANGLADESH ACTIVIST ARRESTED ON ‘ANTI- ISLAM’ CHARGES
Bangladesh police arrested a 25-year- old social media activist as he tried to leave the country on charges that he defamed Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, authorities said on Tuesday. Immigration police detained Asaduzzaman Noor, known as Asad Noor on his Youtube channel, at Dhaka airport on Monday evening, inspector Mohammad Shahidullah told Agence France-Presse. “The charge against him is that he hurt religious feeling by mocking Prophet Mohammed and made bad comments against Islam, the prophet and the Koran on Facebook and Youtube,” he said. Shahidullah said hundreds of Muslims staged demonstrations against Noor this year in the southern coastal town of Amtali after the head of an Islamic seminary filed a case against him. Noor was charged under Bangladesh’s strict internet laws and could face up to 14 years in jail if found guilty.
CHINESE KILLER WHO PLAYED MUTE FOR 12 YEARS LOSES POWER OF SPEECH
BEIJING: A Chinese murderer who pretended to be a mute in an attempt to conceal his past ended up losing the power of speech for real, a local newspaper reported. The man surnamed Zeng left his village in the eastern province of Zhejiang in 2005 after killing his wife’s uncle following a rent dispute over 500 yuan ($76), the Zhejiang Daily reported Friday. Zeng, then aged 33, pretended to be mute and managed to find a job on a construction site in another province. He changed his name, got married and became a father. But local police eventually became suspicious at Zeng’s lack of identity papers. They ordered a blood test and discovered last October that his DNA closely matched that of the parents of the murderer wanted for 12 years. Zeng confessed in writing. “After 12 years of silence, he can no longer speak,” according to the newspaper. “By not speaking, I was not going to say anything stupid,” Zeng told police in writing. He faces a possible death sentence if convicted of murder.
CHINESE ACTIVIST JAILED FOR 8 YEARS AFTER MAJOR CRACKDOWN
TIANJIN, China: China sentenced an activist known by the online pseudonym “Super Vulgar Butcher” to eight years in prison on Tuesday, one of the harshest punishments meted out to the group of lawyers and activists swept up in a major crackdown on civil society two years ago. The punishment handed to Wu Gan, who refused to plead guilty to charges of “subverting state power,” was intended as an unmistakable signal to anyone who would dare to challenge the state’s authority, his lawyer told Agence France-Presse. Wu was taken into custody in May 2015 just weeks before authorities unleashed a ruthless campaign later dubbed the “709” crackdown, rounding up over 200 people involved in activities considered sensitive by the ruling Communist Party. The outspoken social media figure had attracted authorities’ attention with performance art and caustic commentary on Chinese society and politics that he published online.
RUSSIA BARS NAVALNY PRESIDENTIAL BID
MOSCOW: Russia’s Central Election Commission on Monday ( Tuesday in Manila) unanimously rejected top opposition figure Alexei Navalny’s bid to run against President Vladimir Putin next year, leading him to urge a boycott of the polls. The commission voted 12 to zero in barring Navalny from the presidential election, citing a controversial embezzlement conviction for which he received a five year suspended sentence. Navalny’s crime qualifies as “serious” and therefore rids the individual of the right to stand for president,” said commission member Boris Ebzeyev ahead of the vote, urging the body to bar him from running. The decision prompted the 41- year- old protest leader— who maintains that the court case against him was fabricated for political reasons— to call for a boycott of the election. He said he would still appeal the commission’s decision.