Bangladesh police arrest editor of pro-opposition newspaper

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Police in Bangladesh on Thursday arrested the acting editor of a pro-opposition newspaper on several charges, including sedition.

Mahmudur Rahman of the Bengali-language Amar Desh newspaper was arrested in a raid on his office in the capital, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police official Masudur Rahman.

Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Shahidul Islam ruled later Thursday that police could detain Rahman for up to 13 days for questioning.

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Rahman faces charges including sedition and unlawful publication of a Skype conversation that resulted in the resignation of the head judge of a war crimes tribunal, prosecutor Abdullah Babu said.

Leaders of the government’s ruling party have accused Rahman’s newspaper of inciting violence during recent political unrest.

In December, Nizamul Huq, the head judge of a tribunal dealing with alleged crimes against humanity involving the nation’s 1971 independence war against Pakistan, resigned after the London-based Economist said it had obtained 17 hours of recorded telephone conversations on Skype and seen more than 230 emails between Huq and Ahmed Ziaduddin, a lawyer of Bangladeshi origin living in Brussels.

Amar Desh later published the Skype conversation.

Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia condemned Rahman’s arrest and demanded his release.