Barishal court throws out case against bdnews24.com editors over HBM Iqbal reports

A Barishal court has quashed a plea for a case against bdnews24.com for its refusal to remove old reports on cases against former MP and Premier Group Chairman HBM Iqbal and his family.

Judge Md Masum Billah of Barishal Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court dismissed the petition seeking to file a defamation suit against four senior editors of Bangladesh’s first internet newspaper on Sunday.

The petition did not appear to be acceptable to the judge, said Kamrul Ahsan, an official of the court.

bdnews24.com has been facing intense pressure to remove the reports in various ways. As it refused to bow down to the unfounded pressure, a person named Kazi Nasir Uddin Babul filed the plea with Barishal Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court for a Tk 2 billion defamation suit on Feb 24. He identified himself as a friend of Iqbal.   

Senior Metropolitan Magistrate Poly Afroze on Feb 25 set Mar 10 for an order on the petition, but it was transferred to the Additional Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.
 

bdnews24.com received ‘legal notice’ from Sylhet lawyer. Now he says he hasn’t sent it

Journalist says he was listed as witness in a case against bdnews24.com ‘without his consent’  

WHY A PLEA FOR CASE?

In the petition, Babul said Iqbal and his family members were acquitted of the charges, but the reports on the court proceedings in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015 and 2017 are “demeaning” to the former MP and his family as those remained on the internet.

bdnews24.com had published news on court proceedings and orders in cases filed against Iqbal, a freedom fighter and chairman of Premier Group, and members of his family in the past one and a half decades as had other mainstream news organisations.

Bangladesh's first internet newspaper later covered the news of the acquittal of Iqbal and his family members of the charges as well.

Iqbal's friend Babul in his plea claimed that the reports were published “deliberately”. He sent a legal notice to four senior editors of bdnews24.com, including Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi, by the end of January, claiming that the reports were “false and baseless”. 

Babul threatened bdnews24.com with defamation suit and case under the Digital Security Act if the reports were not “deleted”.

bdnews24.com published a report after receiving the notice. In keeping with the ethics and standards of good journalism, its correspondent spoke to the lawyer who sent the notice as well as Iqbal.

Lawyer Autiqur Rahman Jewel, who sent the notice representing Babul, said at the time that his client is a businessman of Barishal. Babul is also the owner and editor of the daily Ajker Barta, according to Jewel.

Jewel said Iqbal might send legal notices to all the media outlets that published the news on the cases. The lawyer was unsure whether legal notices were sent to the others.

Asked about the old reports, the former MP said, “Now 12 years have passed after 1/11 case. The High Court and Supreme Court have quashed these cases. Then why are you letting the entire world know about the lower court’s [orders].”

The installation of the military-run caretaker government and actions taken by that administration are referred to as 1/11 in Bangladesh.

  Bizarre attempt to muffle journalism. Here’s what bdnews24.com says

  'Friend' threatens to sue bdnews24.com over decade-old court verdict report about HBM Iqbal

Since the publication of the report on the first legal notice, bdnews24.com has received 36 other notices from 24 districts. 

The language, statements and demands in the notices, sent under different names, are identical.

In one of the new notices, in addition to threatening bdnews24.com with legal action for publishing "any false or baseless news after this", a lawyer also warned of “adverse consequences” for the news publisher.

bdnews24.com opened the process to answer the legal notices after receiving those, beginning with a response to the one sent by Babul through Jewel.

The second notice dated Feb 18 reached the bdnews24.com office from the Barishal lawyer on Feb 24.

It accepted the receipt of the bdnews24.com reply to the first notice, but said the receivers of the notice did not delete or remove the reports “wilfully”, which the second notice described as “shameful and unfortunate”.

“Therefore, you will face legal action if you do not withdraw [the reports] from your news portal within three working days and apologise to Dr HBM Iqbal and his family.”

If their demand is not met, the notice warned, action would be taken under the Digital Security Act and for “defamation”.

Babul filed the petition seeking to start a case the same day bdnews24.com received the report.

A local journalist of Barishal said he was surprised to see his name as one of the witnesses in the plea for the case. The journalist, Rubel Khan, said in a Facebook post that he was “unaware” of his name being used in the petition.

bdnews24.com received one of the notices from Sylhet, but the “sender”, lawyer Md Moazzem Hossain Chowdhury, said he had not sent it. He suspects someone used his name to send the “fake” notice.

‘UNETHICAL PRESSURE’

Editor-in-Chief Khalidi on Feb 17 spoke extensively at a press conference on Feb 17 on “bizarre” attempts to muffle journalism by influential people.

Khalidi said bdnews24.com can correct factual errors, if any, but it will not remove reports bowing down to “undue” pressure.

“The reports are not based on bdnews24.com’s own investigation, but they objectively reflect the court proceedings and orders. It naturally begs the question: what logical reason is there for the news publisher to remove these reports?" he said.

The organisations of journalists across Bangladesh have protested against the demand to remove the old reports, calling it “unethical pressure”. They have demanded punitive action against those creating such pressure on bdnews24.com.