Joy on Star editor

Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the ICT affairs adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has demanded that The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam be “detained and tried for treason”.

In a Facebook status, Joy, also the PM's son, wrote that the newspaper's editor “admitted he published false corruptions stories against my mother Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to defame her”.

This, according to Joy, was done in support of a military dictatorship in an attempt to remove Hasina from politics. “The editor of a major newspaper running a false smear campaign to assist in a military coup is treason.”

His status came hours after an online news portal ran a story, saying Mahfuz Anam regretted to have made a big mistake by publishing stories without independently verifying them during the 2007-08 caretaker government.

The portal ran the story based on a talk show discussion on Wednesday where The Daily Star editor was a participant.

It may be mentioned that during the 2007-08 period, almost all the media outlets, including TV and news websites, published reports based on investigations by joint forces without independent verification.

In his post, Joy alleged the editor was “constantly writing against politicians as being unethical and corrupt”.

According to him, Mahfuz Anam had no right to remain a journalist, let alone an editor. “His activities went beyond just being corrupt. They were unpatriotic and anti-Bangladesh.”

He claimed the editor's “false stories” led to Hasina's arrest and spending 11 months in jail. “I want Mahfuz Anam behind bars and on trial for treason.”