Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, secured bail in a defamation case in Pabna yesterday.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Md Nazimuddoula passed the order after Mahfuz Anam appeared before the court and sought bail.

The court also set May 12 for the next hearing.

Advocates Abdur Rahim, Maloy Kumar Das Roy, Abdul Hannan Shely and  Chaitanya Chandra Halder represented the Star editor.

Rejaur Rahim Lal, vice-president of Pabna Awami League, filed the libel suit on February 16.

It is one of the 84 lawsuits that have been filed against the editor in 56 districts since February 9. The cases include 17 pleas for bringing sedition charges against him.

The case spree began after the editor at a TV talk show on February 3 made an introspective comment about a lapse in his editorial judgment in publishing some reports, based on information given by the Taskforce Interrogation Cell during the 2007-08 caretaker government rule, without being able to verify those independently.

The cases have drawn condemnation from local and foreign journalists and their unions as well as human rights bodies.