Kabir Kishore is a prominent political cartoonist in Bangladesh arrested last May under a sweeping cyber security law. He was released on March 4, 2021. Mr Kishore says he was tortured in jail. This report is by Aliya Iftikhar, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Senior Asia Researcher:

Bangladeshi cartoonist Kabir Kishore’s first stop after he was released from prison on March 4 after 10 months in custody was the hospital, where he was treated for a burst eardrum, leg injuries, diabetes, and other ailments after being taken from his home, jailed, and allegedly tortured. 

Days before his release, his colleague Mushtaq Ahmed, a co-accused in the case against Kishore, died in custody, as CPJ documented. Ahmed was a writer who had criticized the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Kishore, who was released on bail, filed an anti-torture case in a Dhaka court; the court has ordered a probe into the allegations. According to news reports, authorities have denied that the cartoonist was tortured. 

Continue reading the full article in Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) here.