The High Court (HC) today appointed six senior lawyers as amici curiae (friends of the court) for expert opinions regarding to order the government to remove the contents of the report aired by Al Jazeera titled ‘All the Prime Minister’s Men’ from all social media including Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.
The six amici curiae are - Dr Shahdeen Malik, AJ Mohammad Ali, Kamal-ul-Alam, Abdul Matin Khasru, Fida M Kamal and Prabir Niyogi.
The HC bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order on Wednesday after hearing a writ petition in this matter.
The HC bench also fixed February 15 for the next hearing on a writ petition seeking a ban on Al Jazeera news channel in Bangladesh, over what the government called a false, baseless and ill-motivated report by the international channel aired on February 1.
Barrister Md Anamul Kabir Emon stood in favour of the petition while Khandaker Reza-e-Rakib represented Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) before the court.
Earlier on February 08, 2021, Md Anamul Kabir Emon, a Supreme Court lawyer and ruling Awami League’s Sunamganj district general secretary, filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking its directive on the government to ban the broadcast of Al Jazeera television in Bangladesh.
Besides, the petitioner also sought another order to remove or delete Al Jazeera’s YouTube channel and website in Bangladesh where the links of the documentary and an article titled ‘The gangster, the general and the prime minister of Bangladesh’ have been posted.
Posts and telecommunications, information and communication technology secretaries, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) chairman and the inspector general of police were made respondents to the writ petition.
Earlier, the Bangladesh government had dismissed it, calling it “false and defamatory” and a desperate “smear campaign” instigated by extremists and their allies, working in London and elsewhere.
Earlier Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said, "Bangladesh is looking into legal action against Qatar-based international news organisation Al Jazeera for what he termed "spreading misinformation".
Bangladesh Police Service Association and Bangladesh Army, among other professional bodies and organizations, also condemned the report titled “All the Prime Minister’s Men” as it stirred controversy.
nh/wi
