Bangladeshi journalist accused of conspiracy out on bail

Mahmudur Rahman, a long-time opponent of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was convicted in a dubious trial of planning to kidnap her son Joy. The journalist’s defence team calls the charges, “fabricated and baseless allegations in a farcical trial.” After his return to Bangladesh from Turkey, he was granted bail.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) – After returning to Bangladesh last Sunday, Mahmudur Rahman, 71, turned himself in to the authorities but was released on bail.

The former editor of the Dainik Amar Desh newspaper spent the last few years in exile in Turkey after he was convicted in absentia of taking part in a conspiracy to kidnap and kill the son of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, her IT consultant.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mohammad Assamach granted him bail following a hearing.

Rahman's defence attorney, Tanveer Ahmed, said that all necessary steps have been taken to appeal the journalist’s conviction, adding that the appeal would be filed today.

For Rahman’s defence team, his conviction was based on “false, fabricated and baseless allegations in a farcical trial.”

The alleged plot, which according to the prosecution took place between 2011 and 2015 and was instigated by the journalist, involved several top leaders of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and organisations linked to it in Bangladesh, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

The case was filed by Inspector Fazlur Rahman in August 2015 at the Paltan Model Police Station in Dhaka. On 19 February 2018, the police filed charges against five people based on twelve testimonies, including that of Joy himself.

“For the past 16 years, I have been fighting this regime on a personal level, while political parties have fought their battles in their own way,” Rahman said upon arrival at Dhaka's Shahjalal International Airport.

• bangladesh
• mahmudur rahman
• dainik amar desh
• plot
• kidnapping
• killing
• sajeeb wazed joy
• sheikh hasina