A 35-year-old man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for circulating photoshopped images of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other politicians, including former Premier Manmohan Singh, amid criticism that her government is using tough Internet laws to silence dissent.

Monir Hossain from Tangail, Dhaka division, was jailed by Bangladesh Cyber Tribunal judge Mohammad As-Shams Joglul Hossain on Wednesday.

Mr. Hossain had been on bail and appeared in court for the verdict, bdnews24.com reported.

Alamgir Hossain and Subrata Shil — two others accused in the case started under the the Information and Communication Technology Act — were acquitted as charges against them were not proved, the report said.

Telecom shop

Mr. Hossain used to run his ‘Monir Telecom’ shop at Tangail’s Nagarpur. He had sent doctored images of Ms. Hasina, former Bangladesh President Zillur Rahman and Mr. Singh to mobile phones of users in 2013, said the verdict.

Saturia police arrested Mr. Alamgir after finding out that he was showing around the photoshopped images on his phone. Following his arrest, Mr. Alamgir told police he got the images from Monir Telecom.

Rights groups have accused the government of using ICT laws to stifle dissent.