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Editors of Daily Star, Prothom Alo sued for reporting AL's letter on SQ Chy

COURT CORRESPONDENT
A court in Dhaka yesterday granted bail in a defamation case to the Prothom Alo Editor Motiur Rahman, The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam and Bangladesh Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil.
Prime Minister's Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, MP, filed the case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's
Court, Dhaka at 1:15pm, accusing Jalil of making defamatory comments about him in a letter and the two editors of publishing the letter on June 3.
Ruling party lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and a host of BNP leaders and workers accompanied Chowdhury when he and his counsels demanded issuance of warrants for their arrest.
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The court said it would give order upon reviewing relevant documents and statement of the plaintiff.
At this stage, Chowdhury's counsels and party workers created chaos, demanding immediate issuance of warrants. The court later gave the orders verbally.
The two editors along with their lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain and the AL leader along with his lawyer Barrister M Amir Ul Islam appeared before the court at 5:00pm and sought bail.
During the bail hearing, Dr Kamal said the case was filed as part of an attempt to harass them professionally. The case itself is a violation of the freedom of the press, he said.
"The sections under which the case has been filed were enacted in the 19th century and no warrant could be issued under those," he said, pointing out that a procedure to change those was underway.
Dr Kamal said the case stemmed from a letter written to the prime minister by the general secretary of the largest opposition party and a legislator with the suggestion of cancelling the nomination of Chowdhury for the secretary general of the OIC.
The two editors have run the news along with extracts from the letter, said Dr Kamal. "What is the crime here?" the prominent lawyer asked, adding the people had the rights to know the content of the letter.
He stressed that the editors had upheld people's right to know and performed their professional duty for which they should be commended.
Making his submission for Jalil, Barrister Islam pointed out that the plaintiff did not send any rejoinder to the newspapers after publication of the stories.
"He did not make any comment on part of the news about his controversial role during the Liberation War. Not only The Daily Star and the Prothom Alo, but other newspapers also mentioned that and are still continuing to do so," he said.
After hearing, Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Emdadul Haq granted them bail on a bond of Tk 20,000 with two guarantors for each.
Earlier, the magistrate took the case into cognisance upon hearing statements of Chowdhury and issued a bailable warrant of arrest against them.
"The AL has taken the lease of patriotism. We're aware of terrorism on streets. Now we have terrorism by the media. To protest information terrorism, I have taken this legal step," Chowdhury told the press after filing the case.
On June 3, The Daily Star along with 13 other newspapers published the AL general secretary's letter. Some newspapers published its full text, while others, including The Daily Star, carried relevant extracts. But the defamation case was lodged only against the two newspapers.
After getting the bail, the AL general secretary said, "No-one
will be able to suppress us by filing cases."
"We will continue our legal fight and our activities regarding the OIC nomination will go on. We will support the government in all respects if a person acceptable to people is nominated for the post," he said.
The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam said, "For free, responsible and patriotic journalism, I will do whatever necessary."
The Daily Star published part of the letter like many other newspapers, Anam added. "We ran the story to fulfil our commitment to people's right to know and to uphold the spirit of responsible journalism. But it's a matter of surprise that the case was filed against The Daily Star and the Prothom Alo," he said.
Traditionally, people come up with rejoinders, if newspapers carry misleading information. But the case is an exception, Anam said. "I think it is a threat to press freedom."
After getting the bail, Editor of the Prothom Alo Motiur Rahman said Chowdhury went straight to the court without sending any explanation or rejoinder to the newspapers. The normal process is to inform the newspaper before going to the court if wrong information is carried, said the Prothom Alo editor.
"It's a clear case of harassing the free press," said Rahman, who also vowed to continue the legal fight for free journalism.
He said that as a journalist it was his duty to publish news. Personally, he thought Chowdhury's nomination for the OIC post was not proper.
Advocates Syed Rezaur Rahman, Sahara Khatun, Syed Ahmed Gazi, Abdul Haq Bhuiyan, Monjur Alam, Jobaidul Islam and Newazul Bari and a large number of lawyers appeared for the accused.
Advocates Sanaullah Mia, M Masud Ahmed Talukdar, Additional Public Prosecutor of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court Golam Mostafa Khan, Md Khorshed Alam and Md Ali appeared for the plaintiff.