Some journalists allegedly came under attack on the Supreme Court premises on Wednesday following a High Court verdict acquitting all individuals previously convicted by a trial court in a case filed over an attack at Ishwardi Railway Station in Pabna in 1994.
ATN News Senior Reporter Zabed Akhter was injured in the attack and later admitted to Islami Bank Central Hospital in Kakrail.
Witnesses reported that after the announcement of the verdict, journalists gathered around noon near the Annex building to await a briefing from the defence lawyers.
They claimed that suddenly, more than 100 BNP activists, led by Habibur Rahman Habib, president of Pabna district BNP, started creating a commotion.
When journalists protested, the activists reportedly attacked them.
Hasan Javed, acting president of the Law Reporters Forum and special correspondent for NTV, told Dhaka Tribune over the phone: “When BNP activists began causing a disturbance, ATN News Senior Reporter Zabed Akhter protested. In response, BNP activists began beating him. When several of us tried to rescue him, they attacked us too. Ten journalists were injured in the attack.”
He added: “The attackers were followers of Habibur Rahman Habib. While Habib was present at the scene during the attack, he did not try to stop the attackers. Later, Kayser Kamal (law affairs secretary of the BNP and one of the defence counsels) intervened to control the situation. I saw some of them trying to attack him as well.”
In protest of the incident, journalists boycotted the briefing and sat down in the Annex area.
Journalists working at the Supreme Court demanded a fair trial and identification of those involved in the attack.
Notably, a trial court sentenced BNP leader Zakaria Pintoo and eight others to death, 25 individuals to life imprisonment, and 13 others to 10 years in prison on July 3, 2019.
The death penalty cases were automatically referred to the High Court for review, while the convicts also filed appeals seeking acquittal.
With the High Court's verdict, all defendants in the case are now exonerated.
