Israel Matzav

Choudhury beaten by mob led by ruling party officials; Most content apparently removed from Weekly Blitz site

According to an article by Michael Freund in the Jerusalem Post, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of the Weekly Blitz newspaper, an English-language publication based in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, was beaten by a mob led by leading officials of Bangladesh's ruling party on October 5. Choudhury is scheduled to go on trial for sedition beginning this Thursday for advocating Bangladeshi relations with Israel and for trying to visit Israel. Choudhury was working in his office on October 5 when nearly 40 people stormed the premises.

The mob beat Choudhury, leaving him with a fractured ankle, and looted cash that was kept in the company safe. Choudhury was briefly hospitalized.

According to a statement appearing on the Web site of the Weekly Blitz, the attackers were led by Helal Khan, international affairs secretary of Jasas, and included Babul Ahmed, Jasas's secretary-general. Jasas is the cultural wing of the ruling Bangladeshi National Party (BNP).

During the assault, Ahmed is said to have shouted at Choudhury, labeling him an "agent of the Jews."

In a photo taken shortly after the incident that was obtained exclusively by the Post, Choudhury can be seen hunched over a table wearing a torn shirt while a Bangladeshi policeman dressed in blue chats with two BNP officials. Both officials took part in the attack.

No arrests were made, and police refused to allow Choudhury to file charges against his attackers.

Now here's where things get dicey. I am not a techie, but I know how to use Google and I tracked down the Blitz's web site, which is here. The only article on the web site is here, and there are a small number of archives linked from here. The only other thing on the site is a staff list. Everything else on the site - including the article referenced by Freund - seems to be gone.

Who took down Choudhury's site? I think we all know the answer....

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:23 AM