Prothom Alo editor cleared, writer fined

The High Court yesterday cleared Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman of contempt charges but fined the Bangla daily's Joint Editor, Mizanur Rahman Khan, Tk 5,000 for an article on anticipatory bail.
The article headlined “Minute-e Ekti Agam Jamin Kibhabe” (how is it possible to grant an anticipatory bail every minute) was published on February 28.
The court issued the contempt rule on March 2 in a suo moto move after some lawyers, including Rokanuddin Mahmud and Rafique-Ul Huq, had drawn the judges' attention to Mizanur's article.
In its brief verdict yesterday, the HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Zafar Ahmed observed that Mizanur had "committed gross contempt of court" by writing the article that questioned the court's authority.
“We find Mizanur Rahman Khan guilty of contempt of court, and accordingly convict and sentence him for the period he was standing in the dock,” Justice Naima said.
Mizanur realised that he had committed gross contempt of court and offered unconditional apology standing before the court with folded hands. The unconditional apology, however, came quite late, the judge said.    
“This court refrains from sentencing him for any further time, but imposes a penalty of Tk 5,000 for contempt of court exercising its inherent power as a court of record under article 108 of the constitution,” she said.
It is expected that popular Bangla daily Prothom Alo and other print and electronic media organisations would be cautious in the future in publishing any article that may question the judiciary's authority in the name of press freedom, the court observed.
The bench said it exonerated Matiur Rahman of contempt charges, as he apologised to it unconditionally for publishing the article in his newspaper.
 During the pronouncement of the verdict, the Prothom Alo editor sat on a bench while Mizanur stood in the dock of the crowded courtroom.
Coming out of the court, Mizanur told reporters that he did not expect such verdict, but he was respectful of it.
He would decide on the next course of action upon receiving the full text of the verdict, said the Prothom Alo joint editor.
On Wednesday, the same HC bench exempted seven journalist leaders and the editors and publishers of two Bangla dailies -- Samakal and Naya Diganta -- from a contempt charge, after they apologised to it unconditionally for making and publishing statements on a sub-judice matter.