A Bangladesh court today ordered authorities to shut down five Facebook website pages and a website for blaspheming the Prophet Mohammed, the Quran and other religious subjects, a lawyer said. Judges at the Bangladesh Bangladesh high court in Dhaka ordered the telecommunications regulator, home ministry officials and police to block the offending website pages immediately. "These pages contain disparaging remarks and cartoons about Prophet Mohammed, the Holy book, Jesus, Lord Buddha and Hindu gods," Mr.NawshadZamir, a lawyer of the petitioner who brought the case, said. "They mostly targeted the Prophet and the Quran. These pages hurt the sentiments of the country's majority Muslim population and the followers of other religions. Some of the cartoons are very close to pornography." The name of the website is not known. Judges passed the order after a joint petition by a Dhaka University teacher and the head of a law training school. It is the first time a Bangladesh court has moved to shut down Facebook website pages on charges of hurting religious sentiment. Bangladesh authorities appear to be cracking down on Internet use, with a student arrested in a remote village in January for allegedly posting obscene remarks on Facebook website about the father of Bangladesh Prime Minister MRSheikh Hasina. In the same month, a 29-year-old Bangladeshi was sentenced in absentia to six months in jail after posting a Facebook website message that appeared to wish for the prime minister to die in a car accident.
Source: The Financial Express
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