Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail for eight weeks to Mahmudur Rahman, Acting Editor of Bengali daily Amar Desh, in six separate sedition and defamation cases.
The HC bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice JBM Hassan passed the order after hearing six separate petitions filed by Mahmudur Rahman seeking bail in the cases. The court also asked Mahmudur Rahman to appear before the trial courts in connection with the cases when his bail term expires after eight weeks.
Deputy Attorney General Md Bashir Ullah told the media that the government would move appeals in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against the HC’s bail order to Mahmudur Rahman.
The cases were filed by ruling Awami League leaders and activists with different police stations in Jessore, Tangail and Barisal following his remarks on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Mahmudur Rahman made the comments on December 1 last year while addressing a seminar on restoration of democracy and the role of media, organised by Bangladesh Democratic Council at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital.
Mahmudur Rahman walked out of Kashimpur jail on November 23 last year following bail of the Supreme Court after staying behind bars for over three and a half years.
A former energy advisor and pro-BNP journalist, Mahmudur Rahman was in jail since April 11, 2013.
