A Dhaka court on Tuesday acquitted Mahmudur Rahman, acting editor of the daily Amar Desh, and two others of a defamation charge.
The two other defendants are Amar Desh former publisher Hashmat Ali and reporter Mohammad Abdullah.
The third Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Alamgir Hossain Raj made the acquittal order as the plaintiff of the case failed to be present at court for the seventh consecutive day.
On January 19, 2010, Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, energy adviser to the Prime Minister, filed the defamation charge.
As per the case statement, Amar Desh, on December 17, 2009, published a story claiming that Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury had taken $5m as a bribe and issued a work order to US oil company Chevron.
The story stated: “Of the $5m bribe, Tawfiq gave $2m to Prime Minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy in Texas on October 14, 2009.”
Later, Tawfiq filed the defamation suit denying the allegation.
Arrested on April 11 for publishing a Skype conversation between an ex-chief of the war crimes tribunal and an expatriate Bangladeshi legal expert, Mahmudur Rahman was detained in Kashempur jail.
Some 23 cases are being prosecuted against him while the proceedings of some 49 cases have been halted by the high court division.
