Legal notice asks stopping disclosure of details of MP Azim murder case
MP Azim murder has become the talk of the country. Real time updates are being disseminated through electronic, press and social media.
A lawyer of the Supreme Court has sent a legal notice to relevant government officials, asking them to stop speaking to the media regarding any case with ongoing investigation, including the murder case of MP Anwarul Azim Anar.
Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir sent the notice to the senior secretary at the public security division of the Home Ministry, inspector general of police and police commissioner of Dhaka today (29 May).
According to the notice, Member of Parliament for Jhenaidah 4 Constituency Anwarul Azim Anar went missing after going to West Bengal for treatment. According to the information published in the media, he was brutally murdered and his body has not been recovered yet.
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The Government of Bangladesh and India are conducting an investigation in this matter with utmost importance and real time updates are being disseminated through electronic, press and social media.
However, different media are making headlines according to their choice. Freelancers are broadcasting on popular social media platforms including YouTube, Facebook, TikTok by referring to only segments of news. All this is creating a lot of confusion, said the notice.
Referring to the case of Ayesha Siddiqa Minni vs the state (39 BLD 470), the notice pointed out that the High Court had previously issued instructions to the relevant authorities, urging them not to disclose updates of cases under investigation to the media.
The High Court ruling said that during the course of investigation of various high profile cases, accused persons arrested by various law enforcement agencies including police or RAB are presented in front of the media before being produced in the respective courts, which is often dishonourable and impermissible from the point of view of human rights, the notice said.
"Briefing is done in front of the media with great enthusiasm. We must remember that until and unless an accused is found guilty on the basis of evidence at the end of a trial in a court of law, it cannot be conclusively said that he is the real criminal or that the crime was committed by him," the notice read.
According to the notice, in the light of the High Court's earlier judgments, if the media does not stop broadcasting the statements about the case under investigation, a writ will be filed in the High Court.
What High Court's earlier directive say
In a verdict dated 29 August, the High Court instructed law enforcement officials to refrain from making statements to the media during ongoing investigations. The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman issued the directive while granting bail to Ayesha Siddiqua Minni.
The court had also directed the IGP to provide necessary instructions to all law enforcement agencies, so that they do not project any accused individual in front of the media immediately after their arrest.
The High Court also asked the secretary of the Home Ministry and the IGP to develop guidelines that define the boundaries for police, RAB, and other law enforcement agencies when briefing the media during ongoing investigations.
