The High Court has dismissed the sedition case against BNP's acting chairman Tarique Rahman, along with Abdus Salam, chairman of Ekushey Television, and two others—former chief reporter Mahathir Farooki Khan and senior reporter Kanak Sarwar—granting them acquittal.
Today, Thursday, the High Court bench of Justices A. K. M. Asaduzzaman and Syed Enayet Hossain issued this order.
In 2017, the court framed charges in this case.
Following Tarique Rahman's statements made from London on January 5, 2015, which were broadcast live by Ekushey Television, the Tejgaon police sought permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs to file a sedition case against Tarique Rahman and Abdus Salam the following day. With the ministry's approval, Sub-Inspector Borhan Uddin of Tejgaon police station filed the case on January 8, 2015.
Following the investigation, Detective Inspector Emdadul Haque submitted the charge sheet to the court on September 6 of last year, naming Tarique Rahman, Abdus Salam, Mahathir Farooki Khan, and Kanak Sarwar as defendants.
The charge states that by broadcasting Tarique Rahman's statements from London live, the defendants conspired to spread false and fabricated information, posing a threat to the country's sovereignty and seeking to incite hatred against the established government.
Previously, on August 21, the court acquitted Tarique Rahman in another sedition case filed in Noakhali.
Bd-Pratidin English/ARK
