Four sued for sedition

A sedition case was filed yesterday against four people, including Swedish-Bangladeshi journalist and Netra News Editor-in-Chief Tasneem Khalil and Hungary-based entrepreneur Zulkarnain Saer Khan alias Sami, over the Al Jazeera report titled "All the Prime Minister's Men".

The two other accused are: British journalist David Bergman and Mostefa Souag, acting director general of Al Jazeera Media Network.

Moshiur Malek, founder and president of Bangabandhu Foundation, filed the case with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ashek Imam, Atiqur Rahman, bench assistant of the court, told The Daily Star.

After holding hearing, the magistrate recorded the statement of the complainant and took cognisance of the case.

The magistrate will pass an order in the case on February 22, court sources said.

In the complaint, Malek said Al Jazeera on February 1 aired a report which was also published on YouTube and online newspapers.

The report was fictitious, false, fake and fabricated. By broadcasting the report, Al Jazeera tarnished the image of the government and the state at home and abroad which is tantamount to sedition, the complainant added.

In his statement to the court, Malek said the accused were conspiring to "topple" the country's elected government through this report.

He appealed to the court to issue arrest warrants against the accused through Interpol for their alleged involvement in the offences.

The Al Jazeera report caused a stir in the country and prompted a major backlash from the government.

Earlier in May last year, Tasneem Khalil and Zulkarnain were sued for objectionable posts on social media against the state, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and several important persons of the country.

They were also charged with "tarnishing the image of the nation".

On February 4 this year, Sub-Inspector Md Mohsin Sardar of Ramna Police Station, also the investigation officer of the case, dropped their names from the probe report as he did not find enough evidence against them.

The IO included the names of cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, writer Mushtaq Ahmed and Rashtrochinta activist Didarul Islam Bhuiyan in the charge sheet of the case.

But on February 10, Judge Mohammad Ash Sams Joglul Hossain of the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal ordered further investigation into the case filed under the Digital Security Act against eleven people, including Tasneem Khalil and Zulkarnain, after the prosecution submitted a petition, seeking further probe.

The tribunal also ordered the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of police to further investigate all the 11 accused and submit the probe report to it by March 23.