ICT to give ruling on contempt charge against David Bergman on Dec 1

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has deferred its verdict on the contempt charge against journalist David Bergman.

The ICT-2, led by Justice Obaidul Hasan, was scheduled to give a verdict on the matter on Monday, but the judge deferred it and set Dec 1 as the new date citing 'personal reasons'.

Arguments in the case concluded on Sept 4.

Bergman is charged with making ‘adverse comments’ about the court on his blog.

File Photo

On Mar 18, Bergman submitted his explanation of the comments to the tribunal. The tribunal found it unsatisfactory and, on April 7, ordered Bergman to submit it again.

On Aug 25, the tribunal held a hearing on the second reply.

High Court lawyer Abul Kalam Azad had brought the contempt charge on Feb 19.

In two posts on Jan 28 last year in his blog, Bergman criticised the war crimes verdict of fugitive Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar.

It said Bergman made comments on a sub-judice matter and these comments were a ‘threat’ to the court and ‘against public interest’.

Bergman had been given a stern telling-off by the ICT following his comments on the indictment of Jamaat-e-Islami leader and now war crimes convict Delwar Hossain Sayedee after those were published as opinion pieces in an English daily, New Age, in 2011.

At that time he had told bdnews24.com, “Whilst my blog does contain critical comments of some of the tribunal's orders, the comments are measured, and fair - even though others may disagree with them.”

Bergman, a British citizen, is married to Sara Hossain, the daughter of Kamal Hossain, who played a vital role in drafting Bangladesh’s Constitution.