ETV's Salam again denied bail

Another Dhaka court rejected ETV Chairman Abdus Salam's bail petition yesterday in a case filed under the pornography control act.

The first court had also sent him to jail on January 8 and, against a seven-day police remand prayer, granted his interrogation at the jail gate within five workdays.

Judge (in charge) KM Imrul Kayes of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order after Salam's lawyer submitted the petition on January 12 against the first rejection.    

Even though his name was not included in the first information report, Salam is accused in the case of assisting the broadcast of obscene footage in a programme, “Ekusher Chokh”, on his TV channel on November 6, 2014.

On November 17, 2014 the case was filed with a Dhaka court by a woman (name withheld) accusing four persons -- her ex-husband Mohammad Shahjalal and his brother-in-law Zakir Hossain, her “godbrother” Zahirul Haque Imran and ETV Senior Reporter Elias Hossain.

Following a court directive, cantonment police recorded the case on November 26.

The plaintiff accused Imran, Shahjalal and Zakir of doctoring and circulating on the internet and through cellphones photos and footages secretly taken of her and of spreading gossip to socially demean her after she got divorced.

Salam was arrested several hours after cable operators, mostly loyal to the ruling Awami League, allegedly stopped transmission of ETV that had broadcast live BNP leader Tarique Rahman's speech from London on January 5.

Salam was also shown arrested in two more cases including one over sedition.