Legal action urged for phone tapping during AL govt
The government has also been urged to recover and destroy the personal information that has been stolen through phone tapping
Information technology experts and human rights activists have called for legal action and accountability against those who violated citizens' fundamental rights by eavesdropping on phone and digital communications during the previous government's tenure.
They urged the interim government to take steps to prevent such practices in the future.
At the same time, the government has been urged to recover and destroy the personal information that has been stolen through eavesdropping.
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The experts and activists expressed their opinions at a dialogue held at BASIS Conference Hall in Karwan Bazar in the capital today.
ICT experts and human rights activists said on the occasion that the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) were established under the guise of monitoring but were used to hack websites and digital platforms. They emphasise the urgent need to reform these institutions to make them more people-friendly.
Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), said, "Phone eavesdropping was employed as a tool to maintain authoritarian control and power. During the previous regime, no state institution remained impartial."
Barrister Sara Hossain called for the removal of anti-women and communal posts from social media.
Speaking online, expatriate Bangladeshi journalist Zulkarnain Saer Khan alleged that the previous government not only engaged in honey traps but also manipulated the Facebook accounts of various individuals, with sensitive information being smuggled out of the country.
"What happened to us here is truly despicable," Khan said. "After Sheikh Hasina left on 5 August, several CDs were recovered from Ganabhaban. The contents of these CDs are so damaging that, if released, they could end the political careers of many politicians and businessmen. These CDs were kept with Sheikh Hasina. They must be destroyed."
Fahim Mashroor, moderator of the programme, said although legal recourse exists in such situations, no victim has been known to take advantage of it. "We need to consider how to address this issue," he added.
Political analyst Zahed Ur Rahman, journalists Gholam Murtaza, Ashraf Qaiser, and Zakaria Swapan, as well as politician Junaid Saki, were among many others present at the discussion.
