Sajeeb Wazed Joy yesterday claimed that the recent lawsuits filed
against The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam were not “an attack on the
media”.
“This is not an attack on the media. It is also not even criminal
litigation. It is civil litigation. This is what happens in all
countries with a modern legal system. If you cause someone harm, the
aggrieved party has every right to sue you for damages,” Joy, son of
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, wrote on his Facebook page.
“If Mahfuz Anam is feeling harassed, perhaps he should find out what
spending 11 months in jail on false charges feels like. Several of our
'civil society' and newspaper editors are criticising the civil
defamation lawsuits filed against Mahfuz Anam following his admission of
running a false smear campaign against my mother,” Joy wrote.
However, The Daily Star never ran any “smear campaign” against Sheikh
Hasina, nor did the Star editor admitted of doing so, as Joy claims.
At a talk show on February 3, Mahfuz Anam made an introspective
remark about a lapse in his editorial judgement in running a few
reports, based on information given by the Task Force Interrogation
(TFI) cell during the 2007-08 caretaker government tenure, without being
able to verify those independently.
Joy's claim that the cases are “civil in nature” is also not based on
facts. The pleas for sedition charges and the defamation suits were all
filed under provisions of the penal code, and with magistrate courts
that deal with criminal offences.
The Facebook post came following statements of the Editors' Council
and 35 eminent citizens, condemning the filing of a barrage of cases
against the Star editor. They demanded immediate withdrawal of all the
cases.
“Our government has not filed a single case against him. The cases
are all civil in nature, claiming damages and monetary compensation,”
wrote Joy.
“Politicians have to abide by the law or go to jail, police have to
abide by the law or go to jail, but there is no law against writing
false stories. The only recourse that politicians and famous
personalities have is civil law by claiming damages. If nothing else, at
least the pain of legal fees and time in court should make a journalist
think twice before publishing something false and destroying a person's
good name,” he added.
So far 75 lawsuits have been filed against Mahfuz Anam in 50
districts since February 9. Of the cases, 17 involve pleas for bringing
sedition charges against him, while the rest are defamation suits.
The case spree began days after the Star editor's comment on the TV
programme about publishing some reports without independent
corroboration.
During 2007-08, this newspaper ran 11 such reports -- seven on
alleged corruption of Khaleda Zia, her two sons -- Tarique Rahman and
Arafat Rahman Koko -- and other BNP leaders. Three reports involved
alleged graft of Hasina and one involving the then chief conservator of
forests, Osman Gani.
The reports were based on the statements of some top Awami League and
BNP leaders and businesspersons, who were interrogated by the TFI cell.
Numerous cases were filed against senior politicians, including
Hasina and Khaleda, during the two years of the caretaker government.
Khaleda and other BNP leaders still face many of those cases, but the
cases against Hasina and most other AL leaders were either quashed or
withdrawn after the AL took office in 2009.
Presently, the cases being filed against Mahfuz Anam allege that the
reports published by this newspaper led to the arrest of AL chief Sheikh
Hasina, thus defaming her.
