Star editor gets bail in Shariatpur

The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mahfuz Anam yesterday secured bail in two defamation cases in Shariatpur.

Senior Judicial Magistrate Shahidul Islam passed the bail orders after the editor appeared before the court and sought bail.

Advocates Sardar Azizur Rahman Rokon and Chaitanya Chandra Halder moved the bail petitions on behalf of Mahfuz Anam.  

An ex-president of the district unit Chhatra League, Nurul Amin Kotwal, and central Organising Secretary of Awami Muktijuddho Prajanma League Hasibul Islam filed the defamation suits on February 13.

The cases are among the 83 lawsuits filed against the editor in 56 districts since February 9. The cases include 17 pleas for bringing sedition charges against him.

Mahfuz Anam has so far secured bail in 10 cases from lower courts.

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.