Editor, publisher of local daily sued under DSA

A Sylhet city councillor sued 18 people, including the editor of a local daily, its publisher and reporters, under the controversial Digital Security Act for publishing "a fake report" and sharing it on social media.

Saleh Ahmed Selim, councillor of ward-22 of the city corporation and also a ruling Awami League leader, filed the case with Shahporan Police Station on Friday night.

The newspaper recently published a report on his illegal activities, including attempting to grab the land of a government primary school, and extorting money from landlords and land owners in his area.

Editor of Ekattorer Kotha Chowdhury Mumtaz Ahmed, publisher Md Nazrul Islam, reporters Sayeed Chowdhury Tipu, Jikrul Islam, Md Muhit, Sujan Chandra Anup and administrative officer Ahmed Maruf are among the accused.

The 11 others are not associated with the newspaper.

In the case statement, the plaintiff said the accused published a fake news and shared it on social media, which is defamatory.

It is also mentioned that the newspaper published the report and uploaded it on its online version on November 28.

The newspaper editor, publisher and five other employees were sued for publishing the report and 11 other people for sharing it on Facebook.

Chowdhury Mumtaz Ahmed said, "We published the report in our newspaper following all ethics of journalism, and then it was shared on social media. If the councillor thinks that the report is fake or defamatory, he could've followed formal procedures to give a statement against the report. He rather chose to harass us with the case.

"Journalists are being harassed everywhere under the Digital Security Act and this a fresh attempt. Neutral investigation can reveal the truth that in no way can we be accused under the law in this regard," he said.

Contacted, Abdul Kaiyum Chowdhury, officer-in-charge of Shahporan Police Station, said, "We are investigating the incident. It will take some time to give further details."