Sedition case against Al Jazeera rejected
The order reads a review of the documents showed the plaintiff had not been given any authority by the government to file the case
A Dhaka court has rejected the sedition case against four people, including Zulkarnain Sami and Tasnim Khalil, in connection with the anti-state and anti-government report on the Qatar-based television channel Al Jazeera.
After a hearing on Tuesday, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shahidul Islam issued the order that reads a review of the documents showed the plaintiff had not been given any authority by the government to file the case. So, the case was returned to the complainant.
Earlier, Abdul Malek alias Mashiur Malek, president of the Bangabandhu Foundation, filed the case in the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ashek Imam for a report titled "All the Prime Minister's Men" aired on Al Jazeera on 17 February.
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The next day, the court fixed 23 February for the order to accept the case.
The defendants in the case are Al Jazeera Television Director General Mostefa Souag, Shayer Zulkarnain alias Sami, Netra News Editor Tasnim Khalil and UK expatriate David Bergman.
According to the case statement, the accused, in collusion with each other, have been involved in seditious activities by spreading propaganda in the international arena against the Bangladesh government.
Together with their anonymous collaborators, they fabricated a report containing false information and published an anti-Bangladesh and anti-government report titled "All the Prime Minister's Men" on the night of 1 February.
The report was also widely circulated on YouTube, which was published the next day in various printed and online magazines.
