A total of 410 cases filed in the Cyber Tribunal in eight divisions of the country from 2019 to 2024 have been withdrawn. Information regarding this has been published on the website of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
Of these cases, 21 are in Dhaka division, 130 in Chittagong division, 103 in Sylhet division, 53 in Khulna division, 48 in Barisal division, 40 in Rangpur division, 13 in Mymensingh division and 2 in Rajshahi division.
Dr. Asif Nazrul, Law Advisor to the Interim Government, said, “The cases filed on charges of expression of opinion (speech offense) under the Cyber Act are being withdrawn.”
At a view-sharing meeting at the Judicial Administration Training Institute in the capital on October 3, the Law Advisor said, “The government has decided to withdraw the cases related to ‘speech offense’ (free expression of opinion) under the Cyber Act. At the same time, it was informed that if anyone was arrested in these cases, he will also be released immediately through legal process.”
A total of 5,818 cases were pending in the country's eight cyber tribunals under the Information and Communication Technology Act 2006, the Digital Security Act 2018 and the Cyber Security Act 2023 as of August last year. 1,340 cases related to 'speech offenses' are pending. Of these, 279 cases are pending under the Information and Communication Technology Act, 786 under the Digital Security Act and 275 under the Cyber Security Act. Of these cases, 461 cases are under investigation by investigative agencies and 879 cases are pending in the country's eight cyber tribunals.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
