After an inter-ministerial meeting at the secretariat, Anisul Huq, the minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs, on Sunday said the government would decide on the future of section 57 of the Information and Communications Technology Act and the draft of Digital Security Act in August.
The government would issue directives to investigation agencies so that no innocent journalist was harassed, he said.
He assured of fair investigation for the newsmen.
Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act stipulates that any post, image, or video on an electronic format that ‘causes to deteriorate law and order, prejudice the image of the state or person or hurt religious beliefs’ are non-bailable offences. The punishment is a minimum seven years in prison up to a maximum of 14 years. The fines can go up to Tk 1 crore.
Numerous journalists and students and teachers have been imprisoned under Section 57 of the ICT act, which led to numerous civic leaders and journalists to speak out against it.