Writ on Al Jazeera Ban: HC seeks six legal experts’ opinions
Questioning the acceptability of a writ petition seeking a ban on the broadcast of Al Jazeera and the removal of its report "Al the Prime Minister's Men" from digital platforms, the High Court yesterday wanted to hear opinions from six legal experts as amici curiae (friends of court).
The court requested six amici curiae (friends of court) to state their opinions on the issue on February 15.
The legal experts are: AJ Mohammad Ali, Fida M Kamal, Abdul Matin Khasru, Kamal Ul Alam, Prabir Neogi and Shahdeen Malik.
Writ petitioner Supreme Court lawyer Anamul Kabir Emon sought the court's directive on the government over the matter.
The HC bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order while hearing the petition.
The court also asked whether it was of any necessity to issue an order banning the broadcast of Al Jazeera TV in Bangladesh.
The question over acceptability arose as the petitioner had not issued any legal notice to the authorities concerned of the government.
The court asked petitioner Anamul why he was personally aggrieved at the report broadcast by Al Jazeera on February 1 and whether this court could direct the government to stop the broadcasting of an international TV channel.
Crores of people have already watched the video documentary, the HC bench observed. Removing the content would make little difference at this point, Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah said.
It is true that the sentiment of the nation has been hurt as the image of the president, prime minister and army chief was tarnished by the Al Jazeera report, the judge said.
There are specific provisions in the Digital Security Act for arresting the people involved in making derogatory comments about the president and prime minister, the judge said.
The HC bench asked what the respondents (government officials concerned), particularly the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), have done to this effect so far.
Writ petitioner Anamul could not give any satisfactory reply to the questions and told the court that as a citizen, he was aggrieved at the documentary because it hurt the integrity, solidarity and sovereignty of the country.
BTRC lawyer Khandker Reza-E Raquib told the HC bench that BTRC could not stop the broadcasting of Al Jazeera in Bangladesh even if the HC ordered it to do so.
The BTRC can issue the authorities a notice to delete the contents of the Al Jazeera report from the social media, he added.
Deputy Attorney General Nawroz MR Chowdhury told the HC that the BTRC should have removed the contents from the online platforms.
Al Jazeera may broadcast more such derogatory reports in future, he added.
Supreme Court lawyer Anamul in the public interest litigation also requested the HC to order the government to remove the report from Facebook, YouTube, Tweeter, Instagram and other social media sites.
The documentary titled "All the Prime Minister's Men" damaged the image of Bangladesh at home and abroad and hurt the sovereignty of Bangladesh, Anamul said in the petition, adding that contents of the report were not authentic and Al Jazeera had earlier broadcast reports damaging the image of Bangladesh, but no action had been taken against the people involved.
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