A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced the daily Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman to three years’ imprisonment in a 2010 case filed for not submitting his wealth statement.
Judge Abu Ahmed Jamadar of the Dhaka’s Third Special Judge’s Court handed down the verdict in presence of Mahmudur in the dock.
The court also fined him fined Tk1 lakh. In default, he would have to suffer one more month in jail in the case, filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission in 2010.
In the verdict, the judge detailed how and why the issue had been raised. He said that Mahmudur had been made accused in the case for violating the ACC Act 2004. He did not file his wealth statement within stipulated time in response to several ACC notices. He also concealed his source of income, according to the case statement.
The judge also said that his jail terms would be deducted from for the days he already passed in jail.
Mahmudur, the former executive chairman of Board of Investment and also energy adviser to then prime minister Khaleda Zia, was arrested at his the newspaper office in Karwan Bazar on April 11, 2013 in connection with a sedition case.
ACC Deputy Director Nur Ahammad filed the case with Gulshan police on April 13, 2010. The charge sheet was submitted to the court on July 15 the same year. Mahmudur then filed a petition with the High Court to stay the case proceedings. After it was rejected in 2013, he lodged a leave to appeal.
The special court began the trial on May 28 last year. Nine prosecution witnesses testified during the trial.
On September 11 last year, the High Court summarily rejected the petition filed by detained Mahmudur seeking to revoke the charge framing order against him.
Mahmudur and his lawyers expressed disappointment over the judgement while the prosecution was happy.
Syed Abdal Ahmed, deputy editor of the newspaper, said that Mahmudur had asked them to carry out movement against the government. “We did not get justice in the case,” he claimed.
Defence counsel Tajul Islam said: “We will go to the higher court against the judgement as we denied justice by this court.”
According to Mahmudur’s counsels, after the verdict he claimed that he had been victimised by the government for news reports against the son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her energy adviser.
He also questioned why the government had not filed any case against the authorities of the daily Janakantha and Ekattor TV. They committed the same offence the daily Amar Desh had done by publishing conversation of a war crimes tribunal judge and an expatriate Bangladeshi.
Mahmudur claimed himself innocent and warned of continuing his struggle against the fascist government.