Bangladesh editor jailed for seven years over Israel visit

Dhaka: A Bangladesh court Thursday jailed a newspaper editor for seven years for trying to travel to Israel more than a decade ago to speak about a rise in Islamic militancy.

Salahuddin Shoaib Choudhury, 48, who edits the Weekly Blitz newspaper, was found guilty of harming the country's interests through his articles as well as trying to make a banned trip to Israel, said prosecutor Shah Alam Talukder.

The verdict in the capital of the Muslim-majority nation came amid mounting criticism of the government's muzzling of dissenting voices, and after a blood-soaked general election boycotted by the opposition and dismissed as a farce.

The ruling also came just a day after another court indicted top human rights activists on similar charges for publishing “false” details of a police crackdown, a case criticised by local and international rights groups.

Choudhury was arrested in November 2003 at Dhaka airport as he tried to go to a conference in Tel Aviv to present a paper on the emergence of Islamic militancy in Bangladesh, Talukder said.

“Police seized several CDs, a laptop and a Dhaka-Bangkok-Tel Aviv air ticket from him. He was going to Israel to speak on the rise of Islamic militancy in the country and how the madrassahs are being used to spawn militants,” according to Talukder.

Muslim-majority Bangladesh does not have any diplomatic relations with Israel and the country's 154 million citizens are banned from travelling there.

Choudhury's writings, some of which were apparently published in the USA Today newspaper, were found to be “derogatory”, “seditious” and to have tarnished the country's image, the prosecutor said.

He said Choudhury was in court for the verdict and was immediately sent to prison.