If corruption allegations are credible, we’ll investigate: Momen on Al Jazeera report

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said Bangladesh is working to sue Al Jazeera for using inaccurate information in its report "All the Prime Minister's Men".

He also said that Bangladesh will investigate the allegations made in the report if those are credible.

"We will raise the wrong information [in the Al Jazeera report] and we will sue. We are working on it," he told reporters after attending an event "Exim Bank in Mujib Birth Centenary" at Dhaka's Army Stadium today.

Asked if the government is considering banning Al Jazeera, he said public has already realised that the information provided by Al Jazeera is false.

Momen said, "Now, the SSF ensures the PM's security. Her bodyguards have been her leaders and activists. Maya, Saber Hossain, Tofail Ahmed, Amur Hossain Amu."

"The Al Jazeera report said PM Hasina had two bodyguards. Now, many are standing behind me. We don't know all of them. When the PM delivers speech, many people stand behind her. Showing one such photo, the report is saying he was PM's bodyguard. This is false information…Al Jazeera has lost its credibility through fabricated information."

Momen said Bangladesh is still being depicted negatively abroad. Google search on Bangladesh still shows up photos of destitute women with children working in brickfields.

Bangladesh has changed. There has been much progress, but that is not reflected in the media.

"Often our media says there are many extrajudicial killings. When there were 17 to 18 extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh last year, we saw about 1,000 extrajudicial killings in the US," he said.

Also, last year 85,000 rapes happened in the USA but it was not seen in the media, the foreign minister continued, asking media to portray a positive picture of Bangladesh.

Asked if Bangladesh will investigate the corruption allegations against senior officials in the country as sought by the UN, he said, "Yes, it is good to have investigation. We have no objection to that." Momen, however, added that the UN has not made any official communication with the Bangladesh Government for investigation.

"If there are complaints, we will surely investigate…if it is credible, we will investigate. If not, we will not do it," he said.