Terming the lawsuits filed against The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam as civil litigation, the Prime Minister's ICT Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy has said this is not an attack on the media.
Joy made the remarks in a statement on his Facebook page posted on Friday morning.
"This is not an attack on the media. It is also not even criminal litigation. It is civil litigation.... If you cause someone harm, the aggrieved party has every right to sue you for damages," Joy wrote.
Stating that several of the civil society and newspaper editors are criticizing the civil defamation lawsuits filed against Mahfuz Anam, Joy said: "Our Government has not filed a single case against him. The cases are all civil in nature, claiming damages and monetary compensation.
"So I would like to ask, is the media immune from any liability whatsoever?"
The prime minister's son said politicians have to abide by the law or go to jail, police have to abide by the law or go to jail, but there is no law against writing false stories.
"The only recourse that politicians and famous personalities have is civil law by claiming damages. If nothing else, at least the pain of legal fees and time in court should make a journalist think twice before publishing something false and destroying a person’s good name," he went on.
Mahfuz Anam on a TV talk show on February 3 admitted that he made a "big mistake" by running "corruption" stories based on information provided by the DGFI during the 2007-2008 caretaker regime.
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"I admit it. It was a big mistake as an editor, in my journalism career,” Anam said on the talk show.
A total of 69 cases including defamation charges involving Tk82,646.5 crore have been filed so far at various places of the country against Mahfuz Anam for publishing “confusing” and “defamatory” reports on Awami League President Sheikh Hasina during the military-backed caretaker tenure.
