SPME Editor’s Note: SPME hopes after reading this story, you will sign this Petition to Government of Bangladesh to Free and Drop All Charges of Sedition Against Muslim Journalist Salah Choudhury Which Could Result in His Execution

Bangladesh’s new, democratically elected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took office last month, promising to put her country on a pro-growth, anti-Islamist path. Ending the trial of journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is a good place to start.

Mr. Choudhury was charged in January 2004 with sedition, later expanded to include counts of treason, blasphemy and espionage. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. His “crime” was using the weekly newspaper he edits to advocate peaceful relations between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East and to call attention to radical Islam in Bangladesh. Early in his ordeal, he spent 16 months in jail; he is now out on bail.

When Mr. Choudhury was arrested five years ago, the party in power in Dhaka was supported by radical Islamists who view Mr. Choudhury’s journalism as an affront. The military-backed caretaker government that ruled from 2007 to last month was wary of offending those same Islamists by dropping the charges against Mr. Choudhury. But with a new government led by the secular-leaning Awami League in place, now is an appropriate time for a re-think of the case.

Until August, no judge had demanded that prosecutors present evidence to support the charges against Mr. Choudhury. When the court finally did so, the prosecution’s star witness, police officer Abdul Hanif, could not back up a key element of the case — the charge that Mr. Choudhury had published an article in USA Today titled “Hello Tel Aviv” that prosecutors say either is seditious or sullies Bangladesh’s international image. Mr. Choudhury tells us he never wrote such an article. A USA Today spokeswoman says the newspaper can’t find a record of the article, although its electronic archive is incomplete.

Yet instead of dismissing the case then and there, the judge gave prosecutors more time to summon additional witnesses. Those witnesses have failed to appear at several subsequent hearings, which under Bangladeshi law could be cause enough to dismiss the case. Now a new judge is on the case and is trying to catch up on the details of the file, adding further delays. Mr. Choudhury’s next court date is February 15.

If the case is allowed to continue, it will send a bad signal about Dhaka’s commitment to standing up to the country’s Islamist fringe. Mr. Choudhury’s alleged crimes include public discussion of radicalism in the country’s madrassas — just the kind of discussion moderate Bangladeshis should be able to have without fear of judicial reprisal. The case is also bad for business. Foreign investors can have little confidence in the rule of law in a country that denies a fair and speedy trial to its own citizens.

Ms. Hasina’s office didn’t respond to our requests for comment last week, and so far her government hasn’t given any public indication of what it might do with respect to Mr. Choudhury. Ending the journalist’s ordeal doesn’t require extralegal intervention on Ms. Hasina’s part. She simply needs to instruct her Home Minister to tell prosecutors to perform their function and drop cases when there’s no evidence. Doing so now would right an injustice against Mr. Choudhury. It would also be best for Bangladesh