25 June 2020, Sungai Buloh: Mohammad Emon, a 15-years-old boy, has been arrested this Saturday night in Bangladesh’s Bhaluka of Mymensingh district for allegedly insulting the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a Facebook post.  

In his Facebook, the boy wrote, “If we recharge 100 taka (the Bangladeshi currency) in our phones, 35-25 taka will have to be given to Sheikh Hasina for her widow allowance, because she does not have a husband.”

                   Picture: the original post of Mohammad Emon

This has caused fury among the ruling Awami League party supporters who went to take actions against the boy, claiming that he had “badmouthed… our mother-like leader.”

He was arrested soon, after the local council of the ruling party Tofayel Ahmed filed a case against him. He was later sent to a reformation center, for “realizing his mistakes and correcting his character.”

This has prompted the human rights group Amnesty International to issue statements criticizing the arrest, which accused the government of “silencing the dissent” using the “digital security act.”

Amnesty campaigner Saad Hammadi had told AFP that “The authorities are increasingly targeting anyone who offers even the faintest criticism of the government or the ruling party.”

The screenshot of Emon’s Facebook status is being shared in the Bangladeshi social media. The opposition is harshly criticizing the arrest, calling the government “shameless” for not sparing “a 15-years-old juvenile.”