Shafik Rehman acquitted in Joy murder plot case
The senior journalist surrendered through his lawyer on 30 September last year and pleaded to withdraw the arrest warrant against him
A Dhaka court today (27 May) acquitted veteran journalist Shafik Rehman of the charges in a case lodged for plotting to abduct and murder ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy in the US in 2015.
Judge Tarik Ejaj of Dhaka Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court passed the verdict today, Rehman's counsel Joynul Abedin Mesbah told BSS.
The Ministry of Home Affairs on 22 September 2024, stayed the sentences of Shafik Rehman and another convict, Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, for one year on condition of surrendering before the court and filing an appeal against their conviction.
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The senior journalist surrendered through his lawyer on 30 September last year and pleaded to withdraw the arrest warrant against him.
He later filed the petition, pleading for acquittal in the case.
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Nur on 17 August 2023, convicted and sentenced five people, including journalist Shafik Rehman and daily Amar Desh Editor Mahmudur Rahman, to seven years imprisonment in a case for plotting to abduct and murder Sajeeb Wazed Joy in the US in 2015.
The other convicts in the case were: Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha (Jasas) vice-president Mohammad Ullah Mamun, his son Rizvi Ahmed Caesar and Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, an expatriate businessman living in the US.
The same court on 10 February 2025, acquitted daily Amar Desh editor Mahmudur Rahman of the charges in the same case.
