Tulip Siddiq joins a growing chorus of international condemnation of Shahidul Alam’s detention

Shahidul was detained on August 5 on charges of spreading propaganda and false information against the government

British MP Tulip Siddiq has urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to release photojournalist and artist Shahidul Alam.

Tulip, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, said the detention of Shahidul was “deeply distressing and should end immediately.”

Tulip Siddiq, eldest daughter of Sheikh Rehana, and niece of Prime Minister Hasina, joins a growing chorus of international condemnation of Shahidul Alam’s detention.

The British MP said: “Bangladesh must uphold international standards of justice in treating its own citizens.”

In a statement issued on Tuesday, she added: “I would hope our Foreign Office will convey that message in stark terms to a country that is seen as a close ally.”

Earlier Amartya Sen also demanded Shahidul’s immediate release. The Nobel Prize winner for economic sciences added to calls from Sir Richard Branson, Sharon Stone, Richard Curtis, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and many others.

Police detained Shahidul on the night of August 5 and he was remanded for a week on charges of spreading propaganda and false information against the government.

He was accused of using electronic media to instigate disorder and spread fabricated information and rumours via social media and during an interview with Al Jazeera—during the country’s student movement for road safety.