A case was filed with the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate court on Wednesday against four journalists related to a recent document broadcasted in Qatar-based television channel Al Jazeera.
Bangabandhu Foundation president Abdul Malek filed the case against Al Jazeera director general Mostefa Souag, British citizen David Bergman and Bangladeshi expatriates Zulkarnain Sami and Tasneem Khalil.
The plaintiff accused the four of hatching a conspiracy against Bangladesh’s elected government and damaging the image of the country by publishing the false report.
Magistrate Asheq Imam recorded the statement of the plaintiff and said he would give an order later.
Al Jazeera on February 1 broadcasted a documentary ‘All the Prime Minister’s Men’.
The report, an hour-long film with narration, accused the Bangladesh Army chief, General Aziz Ahmed, of providing illegal supports to his brothers, convicted and fugitive, to establish and run businesses abroad, that too, with the tacit approval of the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bangladesh Army, the home affairs minister and the ruling Awami League have, however, rejected the Al Jazeera report outright and condemned it as politically motivated ‘smear campaign’.
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