Two more defamation suits filed against Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam

Two more defamation suits have been filed against Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam for publishing ‘unverified’ graft stories against Sheikh Hasina during the 2007-8 caretaker regime.

These two cases were filed in Sylhet.

Abdul Basit Rumman, president of the Sylhet city chapter of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), and Rahat Tarafder, former president of the unit of the Awami League’s student wing, filed the cases with the court of Sylhet's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on Sunday.

The court took the cases in cognisance and ordered Anam to appear before it on Mar 30, said Additional Public Prosecutor Shamsul Islam.

The plaintiffs alleged the reports have defamed Hasina and the BCL, and demanded Tk 2 billion in compensation, he told bdnews24.com.

Earlier, similar lawsuits were filed in Laxmipur, Khulna, Gopalganj and Cox’s Bazar against the English daily’s editor.

A sedition case has also been lodged against him by a lawyer in Dhaka.

Anam admitted in a TV talk show on Feb 3 what he described as his ‘big mistake’ in running stories fed by the military intelligence agency DGFI. The stories accused Hasina of taking bribes.

Since then, he has attracted a barrage of criticism both from the Awami League and the BNP camps.