Dhaka: Bangladesh’s Tariq Rahman government has directed all print, electronic, online and social media platforms to comply with a court order banning the broadcast or publication of statements by deposed former prime minister and “fugitive” Sheikh Hasina. Hasina’s interview with Reuters was published and broadcast by multiple media outlets in Bangladesh on Friday.The government statement late on Friday cited a 2024 ban on the broadcast of Hasina’s comments by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).Bangladesh also has other legal restrictions on broadcasting statements, interviews or audio-visual speeches by fugitives sentenced by courts.Syed Badrul Ahsan, a prominent Bangladeshi journalist based in London, said Hasina’s statement promising to return to Bangladesh reinforced the fact that she remains the country’s top leader.Ahsan said: “After the former prime minister returns home, her safety must be guaranteed by the state. She was targeted for assassination during the grenade explosions in Chittagong in 1988 and Dhaka in 2004.”
