A Dhaka court has fixed February 23 to deliver an order in a sedition case filed against Director General (editing council) of Al Jazeera Dr Mostefa Souag, British journalist David Bergman, the Chief Editor of Netra News Tasneem Khalil and Hungary-based entrepreneur Zulkarnain Saer Khan alias Sami over the allegation of hatching conspiracy against Bangladesh by airing a report titled "All the Prime Minister's Men".
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ashek Imam passed the order on Thursday.
Earlier on February 17, the sedition case was filed by Moshiur Malek, founder and president of Bangabandhu Foundation.
On the same day, the High Court (HC) directed the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to remove the Al Jazeera report from YouTube and Facebook.
An HC bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order following a hearing. Barrister Reza-E-Rakib stood for BTRC while Attorney General AM Amin Uddin represented the state during the hearing.
On February 10, the High Court (HC) appointed six senior lawyers as amici curiae (friends of the court) for expert opinions on ordering the government to remove the contents of the Al Jazeera report 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 after hearing a writ petition in this matter.
Earlier on February 8, 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, BTRC chairman and the inspector general of police were made respondents to the writ petition.
Earlier, the Bangladesh government had dismissed the report, calling it “false and defamatory” and a desperate “smear campaign” instigated by extremists and their allies, working in London and elsewhere.
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".
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