Nine eminent personalities on Wednesday urged the authorities concerned, including the government, to take steps so that the ongoing ‘legal harassment’ against The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mahfuz Anam does not proceed further.Voicing deep concern over the matter, they feared that such a situation might create scopes for ‘undemocratic and reactionaries’ forces to carry on their evil acts. The nine eminent personalities are Professor Emeritus at Dhaka University Dr Anisuzzaman, Prof Serajul Islam Choudhury, Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, adv Sultana Kamal, Dr Sarwar Ali, Prof MM Akash, Ayesha Khanam, Ziauddin Tariq Ali and Abul Hasnat.In a joint statement, they mentioned that over 50 defamation cases were flied against Mahfuz Anam, also publisher of the English daily over the last one week apart from issuing summons against him.”An example of modern culture could have been set had the issue could have been settled through acknowledging the mistake over publishing news during a particular situation by following the ethics of journalism,” the statement reads. But the growing numbers of defamation and sedition cases against him in various districts have taken the situation to a stage of harassment, they observed.”It’s (the situation) tantamount to undermining democratic environment and newspapers’ and citizens freedom of speech,” the statement further says.The eminent personalities said the government, mass media and civil society will have to tackle such a situation from their respective positions in a greater responsible manner. The legal actions were launched after Anam admitted during a televised interview on February 3 to a lapse in editorial judgment in publishing reports based on information supplied by the country’s DGFI (task force intelligence cell) during a caretaker government regime almost a decade ago without being able to independently verify them.
