Student, Muhammad Ruhul Khandaker, fears death penalty for Facebook comment

A PhD student in Perth faces a possible death sentence in the Bangladesh High Court  over a comment he made on Facebook.

A BANGLADESHI PhD student at Perth's Curtin University faces a possible death sentence after the Bangladesh High Court ordered he be charged with sedition for posting a message on Facebook deemed insulting to his country's Prime Minister.

Muhammad Ruhul Khandaker, 29, was charged in absentia with contempt of court in the capital Dhaka last week and sentenced to six months in jail for failing to appear before the High Court to explain why he should not face trial for posting a derogatory comment about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on his private Facebook wall. On Sunday, the court instructed police to prepare charges of sedition against him by January 15, indicating the court's intention to fast-track the case.

Mr Khandaker, a tutor and PhD scholarship student at Curtin's electrical and computer engineering department who is on a student visa that expires in June next year, said yesterday he had little option now but to apply for a protection visa.

"I am worried the government might want to make an example of me to stop any other citizen from criticising the government," he said. "I have talked to the Immigration Department here and they have said they will have a look at the matter and that I should wait and see if it cools down. But it's not cooling down because they're very aggressive on this."

Mr Khandaker said he was now in an impossible bind because he had been advised by a lawyer in Bangladesh, as well as family and friends, that it was not safe for him to return.

But under Bangladeshi law he may not appoint a lawyer to appear for him in court unless he first appears in court himself.

Mr Khandaker's troubles stem from comments he posted on his Facebook wall last August, which were leaked to the media. These comments mourned the road accident death of acclaimed Bangladeshi filmmaker Tareq Masud and condemned the government for allegedly issuing thousands of licences to unqualified drivers.

"Tareq Masud died as a result of government giving licence to unqualified drivers. Many die, why does not Sheikh Hasina die?" Bangladeshi court officials claimed his Facebook post said.

Mr Khandaker says he read the comments on another social networking site and then cut and pasted them on to his wall to demonstrate the depth of anger over Masud's death.

After they were leaked - he believes by a Bangladesh university colleague - and received widespread media attention the High Court demanded Mr Khandaker and his employers at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka explain why he should not face trial for insulting Ms Hasina.

An Immigration Department spokeswoman said "any person that is onshore can apply for a protection visa and their claim is assessed on its individual merits".