Prominent atheist blogger arrested in Bangladesh

An atheist blogger was arrested today in Bangladesh on charges of defaming Islam, a day after three others were held for anti-religious writings as part of a crackdown to prevent exploitation of religion on the Internet.
A team of Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested blogger Asif Mohiuddin at Segunbagicha in the capital, Dhaka.
The arrest came amid strong criticism over the government role, which many termed as "submissive", following some radical Islamist organisations' threat of unleashing anarchy if "atheist bloggers are not hanged", the Daily Star reported.
Many think the arrest would add further to the growing frustration of the youths and online activists, who have been agitating since February 5 demanding death penalty of war criminals, over the government role.

The arrests came as the government set up the country's first cyber crime tribunal to prevent exploitation of religion on the Internet.
The crackdown came after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pledged stern action against people found guilty of defaming Islam using the Internet.

Yesterday, law enforcers arrested three bloggers, including a Dhaka University student, from different areas of the capital on the same allegation.
Later, they were placed on a seven-day remand for making disparaging comments about Islam.
Radical Islamist groups have been campaigning against the Shahbagh movement initiated by the bloggers.