The Supreme Court has found daily Janakantha Editor and Publisher Atiqullah Khan Masud and its Executive Editor Swadesh Roy guilty of contempt of court.
The six-member bench of the Appellate Division ordered them to keep confined in the courtroom till the rising of the court.
The court fined them Tk10,000 each and ordered them to submit the money to two charitable organisations within seven days. In default, they shall be liable to undergo imprisonment for a period of seven days.
Also read: Janakantha editor, writer summoned
The court also gave some guidelines to the media regarding contempt of court.
On Monday, the bench fixed Thursday to pass an order on the contempt of court rule.
On Sunday, a four-member bench led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha heard the attorney general and the defence counsel and fixed Monday for the larger hearing.
The apex court issued the contempt rule against the newspaper Editor and Publisher Atiqullah Khan Masud and its Executive Editor Swadesh Roy on July 29 centring an article that was published on July 16.
The July 16 article published on the Bangla daily said that SQ Chowdhury’s family had met one of the judges dealing with the war criminals appeal. The contempt rule was issued after the apex court upheld the death penalty given by a war crimes tribunal.
Swadesh Roy wrote in that article: “Is this the end of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, the ruthless killer of 1971? SQ is one of those traitors who had the biggest bath with the blood of innocent Bangalis. The Appellate Division will deliver verdict in this war criminal’s appeal on July 29. Father Mujib! Your daughter is still having to stand with her back pushed to a crucifix.
“If that is not so, then how can the people from Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s family meet one of the judges hearing the trial? In which way do they reach the judge, is it through ISI or Ulfa or any other way? Does any justice ever meet a member from any of the victims’ families? Does the judge’s ethics allow this?
“Why does the Sheikh Hasina government need to prevent some judges from going on a foreign tour? A tour initiated by the organisation of Jamaat-BNP.”