Shahidul ALAM

Photojournalist and social activist Shahidul Alam continued to face an ongoing legal case centred on allegations of ‘giving false information’, ‘hurting the image of the nation’, and ‘causing deterioration of law and order’ by ‘making provocative comments’ from his social media account under Section 57 of Bangladesh’s repealed Information Communications Technology Act (ICT) 2006 (see Case Lists 2018-2023/4). On 4 November 2024, the High Court of Bangladesh stayed (suspended) the investigation into the case against him and restrictions on his personal freedoms were lifted, although the case remains open. In response to the development, Alam stated that he ‘was wrongly charged and I want the case to be dismissed on legal grounds, not due to political interference’.

Alam was picked up by men in plain clothes on 5 August 2018, who raided his home just hours after he had given an interview to Aljazeera where he recounted his experience documenting street protests on road safety. On 6 August 2018, Alam was brought before a court in Dhaka where he first learned of the accusations against him. Section 57 of the ICT Act was subsequently repealed in October 2018 by the Digital Security Act (2018), raising questions over the legality of continuing the case against him. Alam was granted bail in November 2018 after five rejected applications and over 100 days in detention. 

Over the following years, Alam has repeatedly challenged the legality of the continued investigations against him through the courts. A March 2019 High Court temporary suspension order was lifted in December 2021, following a challenge by the government. 

Shahidul Alam, born in 1955, is the founder and managing director of the Drik Picture Library and the founder of the Pathshala South Asian Media Academy, a photography school in Dhaka that has trained hundreds of photographers. Alam's books include Nature's Fury (2007), Portraits of Commitment (2009), My Journey as Witness (2011) and The Tide Will Turn (2019) In 2014, he was awarded the Shilpakala Padak by the President of Bangladesh for his significant contribution to Bangladeshi culture in the field of photography. In 2018, he received the prestigious, US-based Lucie Award in acknowledgement of his exceptional contribution to photography and society as well as the London-based Frontline Club’s Tribute Award and was named, among others, as TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year. In 2020, the Committee to Protect Journalists awarded Alam its International Press Freedom Award