Sunday Times //

After the controversial documentary ‘All the Prime Minister’s Men’ was broadcast on Al-Jazeera, the government of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina went to a renowned barrister in the UK to take action against journalists. The barrister’s name is Desmond Brownie KC. The then Bangladesh government contacted him in the wake of a report published in the Qatar-based media outlet Al-Jazeera.

The information about that contact has come to light in a document recently recovered by the UK-based media outlet The Sunday Times from Ganobhaban. The document was in a dilapidated state in Sheikh Hasina’s bedroom in Ganobhaban. According to the information in that document, officials of the Bangladesh High Commission in London contacted Desmond Brownie in February 2021. Brownie also agreed to meet them. Then he introduced the High Commission officials to a lawyer. Over the next few months, the two advised Sheikh Hasina’s government.

A few days before the Bangladeshi officials first contacted Brownie, the documentary “All the Prime Minister’s Men” aired on Al Jazeera. In it, the brother of Bangladesh’s former army chief General Aziz Ahmed is heard saying that he can use the police and paramilitary forces to kidnap opponents and take huge bribes.

The Al Jazeera documentary presented various evidence of corruption in Sheikh Hasina’s government. However, the Bangladeshi government described the documentary as “false” and “politically motivated.” Soon after the documentary aired, the brother of the informant Zulkarnain Sayer Khan was beaten with a rod. In addition, many people associated with the documentary left the country or decided not to return due to the hostile environment.

According to documents found in Ganabhaban, Barrister Desmond Browne had a virtual meeting with officials of the Bangladesh High Commission in London on February 10, 2021. There, he seemed to say that he was ready to fight a case against Al-Jazeera on their behalf (the High Commission officials) in the future. But the High Commission officials first needed to contact a lawyer who would advise him (Barrister Browne). Then, on Browne’s advice, the Sheikh Hasina government contacted Jeremy Clarke-Williams, an expert from Pennington Manches Cooper, a London-based legal aid firm. A few days later, he also met with officials of the Bangladesh government.

In the meeting held at 6 pm on February 17, 2021, Sheikh Hasina’s representatives told Clarke-Williams that the Al-Jazeera documentary, “although it lacks substance,” had “severely damaged” Sheikh Hasina’s reputation. They have been instructed by Dhaka to seek advice on whether the Bangladesh government or any institution like the army or an individual like the army chief will file a defamation case in court over the documentary. In addition, the London High Commission officials were also asked to seek advice on whether a third party like a retired army officer who is not in the documentary but believes that the Bangladeshi prime minister has been defamed will file a defamation case.

According to the documents, the Sheikh Hasina government also planned to arrest British journalist David Bergman, who worked on the Al-Jazeera documentary. Bangladeshi officials told Clark-Williams that they were ready to file a case against Bergman as well. According to the officials, David Bergman was behind the production of the ‘politically motivated’ documentary. He will be arrested in Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh government ultimately decided not to file a case in the UK court. Instead, they began trying to pressure Facebook and YouTube to remove the Al-Jazeera documentary from their platforms. Despite the Bangladesh High Court ruling, the two tech companies have refused to remove the documentary. The documentary is still available on Facebook and YouTube.

Desmond Browne, who recently retired from the legal profession, told The Sunday Times when contacted, “It is true that Clark-Williams and I made the suggestion to the High Commission (Bangladesh) after initial discussions with me on February 10. However, to my knowledge, neither I nor Clark-Williams took any further action after that suggestion. No correspondence was issued or litigation was initiated in accordance with the advice given by Clark-Williams and me in March 2021.” Clark-Williams did not respond to emails and phone calls seeking information on this matter.

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