Cybercrime cases pile up as trials stall for years

On October 30, 2017, police arrested Amir Hossain, 37, in Dhaka's Moghbazar area on charges of digital forgery.

According to case documents, Amir opened websites in the name of fake organisations, published false job advertisements, collected money from job seekers, and misappropriated the funds.

On the day of his arrest, police filed a case against him under the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, 2006 with Ramna Model Police Station.

On May 29 the following year, investigator Ansar Uzzaman, an inspector of the Police Bureau of Investigation, submitted a charge sheet against the lone accused.

He also named 15 individuals, including six police officers, as prosecution witnesses.

More than six years have passed since the Cyber Tribunal (Bangladesh) framed charges against Amir, yet only one prosecution witness testified on July 3 this year, according to court records.

The Daily Star found that 16 hearings were held in the last six years but the prosecution failed to produce most of the 15 witnesses.

Amir went into hiding after securing bail.

"In most hearings in the past, the tribunal has issued non-bailable arrest warrants against the witnesses, but they did not appear to give statements," a court staffer told The Daily Star.

"Police are responsible for implementing the court's orders regarding producing witnesses. If police were prompt in this regard, the backlog of cases would have been reduced to a great extent," the staffer said.

This is just one of 204 cases filed under cyber laws that have remained pending with eight cyber tribunals across the country for more than five years, according to the latest report of the Supreme Court (SC).

Legal experts said trials dragging on for years cause serious hardship for both accused and complainants. They have long raised concerns about the slow pace and inefficiency of cybercrime case trials.

Supreme Court lawyer Ishrat Hasan said with Bangladesh becoming a digitally connected society, cybercrimes have grown to include hacking, phishing, online harassment, revenge porn, financial fraud, digital defamation, and data theft.

"In response, the government has enacted several laws over the past two decades to address emerging threats of cyberspace. However, despite this legislative evolution, the justice delivery system, especially the cyber tribunals, remains inadequate, under-resourced, and overburdened," she said.

"In 2025, the interim government promulgated the Cyber Protection Ordinance (CPO), 2025, addressing some gaps in earlier laws. It recognises internet access as a civil right, criminalises AI-driven cyberattacks and online harassment of women and children, makes speech-related offences bailable, establishes a Cyber Security Council with civil society representation, and empowers courts to dismiss false or fabricated cyber cases at an early stage," Ishrat added.

Though disposal of cybercrime cases has increased slightly this year, more than 4,452 lawsuits were still pending with cyber tribunals as of June 30, the SC report said.

Between April 1 and June 30, a total of 367 new cases were filed and 1,324 cases were disposed of by the tribunals, which are set up in eight divisional cities.

As of July 14, a total of 116 accused in cyber cases were in jail, according to the Department of Prisons.