An Islam-critical blogger, Asad was charged with blasphemy, on the run until he was detained trying to escape the country. Imprisoned and released on bail, he fled the country.
Tofazzal Hossain (father), Rabeya Begum (mother)
Bangladeshi blogger Asaduzzaman Noor, better known as Asad Noor, is a critic of Islamism and Islamic fundamentalism. His outspoken online activism has subjected both him and his family to the interference of political authorities, with Asad himself facing criminal charges for his speech.
The first trouble occurred in January 2017, when Asad was 25. For some content he posted on social media which allegedly defamed the Prophet Muhammad and Islam itself, he was arrested and imprisoned at the airport in Dhaka, fleeing his charges under the Information and Communication Technology act. He was held until August 2018, released on bail, and almost immediately imprisoned again before another release in January 2019. Rather than stay in Bangladesh to be thrown back into prison a third time, he took this opportunity to escape to India. The charges were never dropped.
"Local police frequently search our house (in Bangladesh) to try and arrest me … my family has been paying the price for my activism." - Asad Noor
From India, Asad continues his online activism, much to the ire of Bangladeshi authorities. In addition to blogging, he also posts videos to YouTube and Facebook, and in a series of these in July 2020, he accused the Bangladeshi government of persecuting Buddhists in the country, for which he was awarded new charges for “hurting religious sentiments” after Islamists accused him of fomenting religious hatred. During this episode, Asad’s family’s home in Bangladesh was searched and several members of his family were detained.
Asad, nonetheless, continues to write and speak.
Bangladeshi blogger faces death threats for criticizing Islamic fundamentalism - Deutsche Welle
Blogger arrested at Dhaka airport in case filed under ICT act - Dhaka Tribune
Bangladesh should drop spurious charges against blogger Asad Noor - Humanists International
Blasphemy law in Bangladesh allows the state to arrest, trial and imprison any person who has intention of hurting "religious sentiments." While the state does not have any law against apostasy, vigilantism or non-state groups prosecute apostates on their own. Vigilante violence has been an especially acute issue, most notably in the mid-2010s when a string of secularist and atheist bloggers suffered murder and attempted murder at the hands of Islamist extremists.