A Dhaka court on Thursday acquitted journalist Probir Sikdar in a case filed under the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Act by a close associate of former minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain.
Judge Md Ash-Shams Jaglul Hossein of the Cyber Crimes Tribunal handed down the verdict in the case filed six years ago.
Probir was accused of defaming the then LGRD minister and Faridpur MP Khandker Mosharraf Hossain through a Facebook post
After being acquitted Probir expressed gratitude to the journalists and journalist leaders and others for their supports.
He vowed to continue to protest any wrongdoing in this country, even if he is alone in doing so.
The court's verdict boosted his courage, he added.
He further said, “I have won this six-year-long legal battle. But my personal life has been devastated. I had to sell my land in village to pay the legal fees.”
On August 16 in 2015, Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police detained Probir Sikdar. He was the editor of Bangla daily Bangla 71 and online newspaper Uttoradhikar 71 News that time.
Hours later his detention, Faridpur Awami League leader Swapan Kumar Paul filed the case with Kotwali police over a Facebook post by Probir under the ICT Act.
On March 15 in 2016, police submitted pressed charges against him .
On August 4 in 2016, the cyber tribunal indicted him in the case.