Star editor gets bail in Rangpur

A court in Rangpur today granted bail to The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam in a Tk 100-crore defamation case.

Motahar Hossain Moula, ruling Awami League’s Rangpur district organising secretary, filed the case on February 15.

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Today, the defence counsels argued that the kind of allegations levelled against the Star editor in the complaint do not have anything defamatory.

The complainant’s lawyer opposed it.

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After hearing, Senior Judicial Magistrate Md Shafiul Alam granted the bail upon a bond of Tk 1,000 with two guarantors.

The court fixed May 26 for the next hearing.

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After filing of the case on February 15, the court fixed today for hearing and issued a summons for Anam to appear before it during the hearing.

A total of 79 cases including 17 pleading to bring charges of treason have been filed against Anam in 53 districts between February 9 and 22. A total compensation of Tk 1,32,811 crore has been sought for the damages.

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The barrage of cases began days after the Star editor at a talk show on February 3 made an introspective comment about a lapse in his editorial judgement in publishing some reports, based on information given by the TFIC during the 2007-08 caretaker government's tenure, without being able to verify those independently.

The cases have drawn condemnation from local and international journalists and journalist unions.