The Bangladesh government could lodge complaint with the UK Press Complaints Commission against Sunday Mirror for terming the rescue of Reshma a “hoax,” British High Commissioner to Dhaka Robert Gibson has said.
London-based tabloid The Sunday Mirror recently published an article that said the rescue of Reshma, who was trapped inside the Rana Plaza debris for 17 days, was a hoax.
The Bangladesh army, which conducted the rescue operation, refuted the report and termed it baseless.
The British envoy told the Dhaka Tribune that if anybody was unhappy with any news, complaints could be lodged.
“If you are not satisfied with the newspaper’s response, you can take your complaint to the Press Commission and they will investigate and give judgment. If they feel the newspaper is wrong, they can fine the newspaper and also demand putting a retraction for its incorrect story,” he said.
He, however, said the government was yet to discuss the complaint issue with him.
When asked what he thought about the report, Gibson said, laughing: “I was not there at Savar. I don’t know. I have no comment on that at all.”
Election
The British envoy also told the Dhaka Tribune that it was very encouraging to see that the Election Commission did a very good job in conducting the polls in the four city corporations.
“With the four elections that took place recently, I am very pleased that reports suggest that Election Commission did a good job.”
He, however, said: “I think the question is, is the Election Commission capable of managing the elections in a free, fair manner. I think the government has agreed, the opposition has agreed that, in the case of four mayoral elections, it did so. Now the national elections are much, much bigger events altogether.”
He also said the UK government was working with the Election Commission to try to enhance its capacity and professionalism, so that it could properly discharge its functions.
