Police personnel escort Amir Hamza, one of the country's most popular Islamic preachers, whose rallies draw tens of thousands of people, on charges of inciting militants, following his arrest in Dhaka on May 25, 2021. ( AFP / MD SUMIT AHMED SOHEL)

Misleading posts claim detained Bangladeshi preacher was 'released' from prison

This article is more than one year old.
Published on July 9, 2021 at 07:06
1 min read
By AFP Bangladesh

Facebook users in Bangladesh have shared a claim that Amir Hamza -- a popular Islamist preacher who was detained on anti-terrorism charges -- was "released" from prison in late June 2021. The claim is misleading: police in Bangladesh and Hamza's lawyer both separately told AFP the preacher was still in prison as of July 9, 2021, following a court appearance on June 21.

The claim was shared here on Facebook on June 30, 2021.

The Bengali-language post translates to English as: "All of a sudden Amir Hamza is released. He himself is surprised."

It links to a purported news report with an identical headline.

Hamza was arrested by the Bangladesh police on May 25, 2021 on charges of inciting militants, AFP reported.

He was detained in a raid at his home in the western city of Kushtia before being transferred to Dhaka, police said.

A similar claim that he had been released from detention in June was also shared here and here on Facebook.

The claim is misleading.

"It's fake news. I am confirming that he is now at Keraniganj central jail," Shamsul Islam Akanda, a lawyer for Hamza, told AFP on July 8.

BSS, Bangladesh's national news agency, reported here that Hamza appeared at court in Dhaka on June 21.

Abdul Mannan, a deputy commissioner at the Bangladesh police unit that handles Hamza's case, told AFP: "He was arrested in a case on May 25 this year and has been under interrogation. Later we produced him before the court. Then he was sent to jail."

Misleading headline

The purported news report shared in the misleading posts contains an inaccurate headline.

The report does not state Hamza had been released from detention, as the headline suggested.

The report states Hamza was brought to court for a hearing before being sent back to police custody.

Multiple keyword searches on Google did not find any credible news report that Hamza had been released as of July 9, 2021.

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