FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  MARCH 18, 2008

CONTACT:  DR. RICHARD L. BENKIN, drrbenkin@comcast.net; 847-922-6426; http://www.InterfaithStrength.com

ANTI-ISLAMIST MUSLIM JOURNALIST TAKEN BY PARA-MILITARY GOONS

DHAKA (MARCH 18, 2008) At approximately 7:30pm, Dhaka time, a large and armed contingent of Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) stormed the office of anti-jihadist Muslim journalist, SALAH UDDIN SHOAIB CHOUDHURY.  A para-military arm of the government, RAB is notorious for its crackdowns on dissidents and wholesale violations of human rights.  According to witnesses, Mr. Choudhury, and others, they ordered all employess out of the newspaper, ransacked the premises, and interrogated Shoaib , seizing his phones and not allowing him any communication with friends, family, or legal counsel.  After more than an hour and a half, RAB claimed to find a controlled substance, YABA, in Shoaib's desk--an allegation that Shoaib's friends and associates claim is impossible.  They allege that the evidence had to be planted.  A Captain Shafiq, the officer in charge of the operation, ordered him taken to RAB headquarters.

Once in the RAB vehicle, Shoaib was blindfolded and taken along with another senior journalist to a RAB-3 interrogation center in Dhaka.  (RAB-3 is a more senior and serious division of RAB.)  According to Shoaib, his captors verbally abused him for hours, repeatedly calling him a "Zionist spy and agent of the Jews."  When he protested that this harassment was contrary to US House Resolution 64, which the Bangaldeshi government said it would follow, these governments said they had no regard for the United States or the resolution, which according to Shoaib, they called s**t.  The verbal assault, which included numerous threats, continued for another three hours until someone RAB described as a "high government official" telephoned and ordered them to release him.  When Shoaib asked about the contrived drug charge, he was told that they would not pursue it.

That order appeared to follow some immediate and direct action from several quarters.  Upon receiving the news about his brother, Sohail contacted Dr. Richard Benkin of Chicago, who helped secure Shoaib's release from prison in 2005 and has continued to block Bangladeshi government attempts to re-incarcerate him.  After the two discussed strategy, Sohail called the US Embassy, and the matter was reported to the charge d'affairs.  Benkin contacted the office of Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL) who has been Shoaib's long time champion in Congress.  Kirk's staff, led by Andria Hoffman, set up a command center in his office, while Benkin contacted several other supportive members of Congress and Shoaib's international human rights attorney Irwin Cotler.  Benkin then called the Bangladeshi Embassy and demanded that Shoaib be released unharmed immediately or there would be consequences.  Soon thereafter, the embassy received telephone calls from several Congressional offices including Kirk's and those of Rep.Trent Franks (R-AZ), Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), and Rep. Steven Rothman (D-NJ).

Shoaib was able to get a message to his driver (who had remained stationed by the building) as he was being led away.  His brother Sohail contacted me and then the United States Ebmassy.  I contacted several members of Congress and Shoaib's international human rights attorney Irwin Cotler.  Shoaib's supporters are planning action, as well.  We have put the Bangladeshi Embassy in Washington on notice as well that people will hold their government responsible if Shoaib is not released unharmed immediately.  After about five hours, he was.  According to Shoaib, however, his interrogators made it known that they had no intention of releasing him.  He said they repeatedly called him a "Zionist spy and agent of the Jews," and denigrated the United States goverment and Congress that passed a resolution in his support.  RAB agents hurled expletive after expletive

Even if Shoaib is released unharmed, the action represents a serious escalation of the government's harassment of the courageous journalist who now counts supporters on every continent save Antarctica.  People in RAB custody have been known to "disappear," and RAB does not carry out actions such as today's without serious consequences.  The raid could have been in response to several failed attmepts on the part of the government and radical Islamists to re-incarcerate Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury.

Shoaib Choudhury was arrested and tortured by Bangladeshi authorities after exposing the rise of radical Islamists in that country, urging relations with Israel, and advocating genuine interfaith dialogue based on religious equality.  He was released after seventeen months after an intense campaign for his freedom by Richard Benkin of Chicago, and after pressure and moral suasion by Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL).  Shoaib Choudhury continues to publish freely despite government and other threats and even physical attacks.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT DR. RICHARD BENKIN

Dr. Richard L. Benkin
http://www.InterfaithStrength.com
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury's Brother and Defender
+1-847-922-6426