Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

2009] BETRAYING TRUTH 177
He was arrested in November 2003 at Dhaka’s international airport just
prior to boarding a flight to the Holy Land, where he had been scheduled to
deliver an address on promoting understanding between Muslims and Jews.
Bangladesh does not recognize that Israel–Choudhury’s visit there would
have been the first by a Bangladeshi journalist–and authorities charged him
with anti-Islamic activity. 145
According to witnesses, the police ordered all employees out of the
newspaper’s offices, ransacked the premises, and interrogated Choudhury
without allowing him any communication with friends, family, or legal
counsel. He was repeatedly called a “Zionist spy and agent of the Jews.”
His protestations that this harassment was contrary to an understanding
between Bangladesh and the United States (which the Bangaldeshi government
had said it would honor) were ignored. For the next seventeen
months, he was held in prison, during which time he was tortured. 146
Choudhury was finally released after an intense campaign for his freedom
by Richard Benkin, an American activist from Chicago, who had solicited
the support of Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL). But he still faced charges that
included blasphemy, sedition, and espionage. For the past five years, he has
been subjected to various other forms of intimidation and harassment. (Two
years ago, the offices of his newspaper were the target of an attempted
bombing by unknown assailants.) 147
In 2005 the writers’ group PEN USA presented him with its “Freedom
to Write” Award “in recognition of his commitment to courageous journalism
under extreme adversity.” A year later the American Jewish Committee
gave him its Moral Courage Award. (The Bangladesh government
prohibited him from traveling to the United States to receive the honor.) 148
In August of 2008, after many delays, Choudhury’s trial began. He
had been accused of anti-Islamic activity for having “praised Jews and
Christians.” If convicted, he could be sentenced to death. 149
With but few exceptions, the story of Shoaib Choudhury has been
almost totally ignored by the Western press. 150 The reasons for this failure
145. Anti-Islamist Muslim Journalist Taken by Para-military Goons, http://
www.stephengill.ca/shoaibArrestedAgain.htm.
146. Id.
147. Id.
148. Presentation of Moral Courage Award to Shoaib Choudhury, http://www.
ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.1661861/k.BBCF/Presentation_of_the_Moral_Courage_Award_to_Shoaib_Choudhury.htm.
149. Michael Freund, “Pro-Israel Editor Goes on Trial in Bangladesh,” Jerusalem
Post, Aug. 8, 2008.
150. The few exceptions have been editorials mentioning Choudhury in the Wall
Street Journal, the Washington Times, and the now defunct New York Sun. See