The High Court on Wednesday directed the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to remove the recently published Al Jazeera report, ‘All the Prime Minister’s Men’, 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.
During the hearing, Barrister Reza-E-Rakib stood for the BTRC while Attorney General AM Amin Uddin represented the state, at the courtroom.
On February 10, the High Court (HC) 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 February 10 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, 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.
