People gathered at the Shahbag Square in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka wearing masks to protest the detention of internationally acclaimed photographer Shahidul Alam and other students. Image by Pranabesh Das, used with permission. Detained Bangladeshi photojournalist Shahidul Alam has once again been denied bail in a case filed under the Information, Communication and Technology Act (ICT) for instigating “students to continue a [recent] movement against the government” and “spreading propaganda against the government”. Alam and his acquaintances deny those charges. Meanwhile, protests continued at home and abroad to release the photographer and other detained students. A number of students got bail a few weeks ago, but an unknown number are still detained. Alam was detained on August 5, 2018, officially arrested the next day, and ultimately sued under the ICT Act, to which his counsels submitted the bail petition on August 28. On September 4, a two-member High Court bench felt ‘embarrassed’ to hear Alam's bail in the case. In Bangladeshi judicial practice, the judges can sometimes feel embarrassed to entertain cases demanding a fair and impartial dispensation of justice, especially if any party in the case is personally known, directly or indirectly, or if they fear they will be threatened or intimidated. Alam's counsels appealed to the High Court who directed the lower court concerned with the case to dispose of the plea by Tuesday. #Bangladesh‘s #HighCourt judges felt #embarassed to hear #BailPetition of #ArbitrarilyDetained #Protographer #ShahidulAlam after a day's delay for allowing #AttorneyGeneral a #chance to argue in favour of the #Government. Thus, #injustice takes its roots! https://t.co/LAj3iHpNGY — Ashraf Zaman (@ZamanAshraf) September 4, 2018 Alam was arrested in August after covering the student protests against ineffective traffic laws in Bangladesh on his Facebook and Twitter accounts and discussed the protests on Facebook Live. Thousands of secondary school students in the capital city of Dhaka took to the streets on July 29 in sustained protests lasing more than a week, demanding improved road safety and rule enforcement after two of their classmates were killed due to reckless driving by a public bus. Alongside his social media coverage of the protests, Alam gave a television interview with Al Jazeera where he talked about the recent situation in Bangladesh and criticized the government. A #Bangladesh court has rejected bail for photographer Shahidul Alam, who was arrested after criticizing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in an interview. Here’s a smattering of his award-winning work. https://t.co/ESlMbpRIun — Sadanand Dhume (@dhume) September 11, 2018 A number of international agencies, Nobel laureates, photography professionals, journalists and human rights organizations have urged the Bangladesh government to release Alam. 11 Nobel Laureates and 17 Eminent Citizens call for the Unconditional Release of Dr Shahidul Alam of Bangladesh. To read the full statement please visit: https://t.co/Rq5IVU0sRi pic.twitter.com/LgFkOadXE0 — Muhammad Yunus (@Yunus_Centre) September 2, 2018 Glad to hear Foreign Office are raising human rights abuses w/ authorities in Bangladesh in response to my #freeShahidulAlam letter to minister @MarkFieldUK One wonders if repressive government feels more able to get away with stuff now eyes of the world diverted to Rohinga pic.twitter.com/Jbd6eFjxKr — Rupa Huq MP (@RupaHuq) September 7, 2018 Indian writer Arundhati Roy, American linguist Noam Chomsky, Canadian author Naomi Klein, American playwright Eve Ensler and Indian journalist Vijay Prasad have issued their second statement to the Bangladesh government to drop charges against Alam. You look around in the #world and who are the global leaders [in documentary #photography. and there is really no one more important than Shahidul Alam, especially in our region – RMIT University photography lecturer Alan Hill. https://t.co/0ZmDkKv4SW @SBSNews @_MAQUETTE_ — Majority World (@Majority_World) September 12, 2018 Amnesty International has declared Shahidul Alam as Amnesty International prisoner of conscience. In Bangladesh, numerous protests and solidarity rallies have been organized in the past weeks to demand the unconditional release of Shahidul Alam and other detained protesters. New graffiti at the Dhaka University campus demanding release of noted photographer Shahidul Alam. © Sudeepto Salam#drik #pathshala #ShahidulAlam #ChobiMela #photography #street #FreeShahidul #cycling #Dhaka #abduction #detained #remand #case #jail #interrogation #HumanRights pic.twitter.com/5pPng3ZB2b — Sudeepto Salam (@sudeeptosalam) September 4, 2018 My hands are tied by invisible shackles, my teardrops have blurred you.