Mahmudur jailed for 6 months
August 19, 2010
The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday sentenced detained Mahmudur Rahman, the acting editor of the daily Amar Desh, to six months imprisonment for committing a contempt of court.
The apex court also fined him Tk 1 lakh. If he fails to pay the amount, he will have to serve one more month in jail, the court order said.
A six-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim handed down the imprisonment for publishing a news item in the daily on April 21 with the headline “Chamber manei sarkar pakkhe stay” meaning “Chamber bench means stay order in favour of the government”.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said this is the first time the SC convicted any person and sentenced him to jail for committing contempt of court.
This judgment will prevent the trend of committing contempt of court and no body will dare to tarnish the image and dignity of the apex court.
Two SC lawyers– Riaz Uddin Khan and Mynul Hassan filed the petition on May 2, against Mahmudur and four journalists of the daily for publishing the report.
The apex court on June 2 issued a contempt of court rule against Mahmudur and four others following the petition.
The apex court also sentenced Aliullah Noman, staff reporter of the daily, to one-month jail and fined him Tk 10,000.
Noman will have to serve seven-day behind bars in default to pay the fine.
The court also fined Hashmat Ali, publisher of the daily, Tk 10,000. Hashmat will also have to serve seven days in default to pay the fine.
The apex court however pardoned Deputy Editor of the daily Syed Abdal Ahmed and News Editor Mujtahid Faruqui from the charge.
Source: thedailystar.net
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