High Court questions the tradition of presenting arrestees in media briefings

The High Court has raised questions about the practice of presenting arrestees and detainees in media briefings before completing their trial process.

The court said that after the arrest of the accused, law enforcement agencies arranged a press briefing. Then by bringing the arrestees or detainees before the media is tantamount to influencing the trial.

The court said, "Is it right that a person is presented in front of the media before the trial is over? Law enforcers speak to the media about an incident before submitting the report on the matter, which is improper. What will journalists do then? If they get these incidents, they will write."

At the same time, the High Court said talk shows take place on media on cases under investigation, which is also inappropriate.

The High Court raised such a question in the hearing of the plea of the accused in the case of rape and murder of a schoolgirl in Narayanganj even though she was alive all along.

Earlier on August 27, the High Court directed both the previous and current investigating officers of the case to appear before court on Thursday along with all the documents of the case.

They are investigation officer Sub-Inspector (SI) Mostafizur Rahman and his predecessor SI Shamim Al Mamun of Narayanganj Sadar Police Station.

A High Court bench comprising of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Mostafizur Rahman held a hearing on the matter on Thursday.

The two police officers appeared before the High Court with all the documents of the case and explained the circumstances.

The former investigating officer said, "I arrested them and took them on remand. They voluntarily admitted [their involvement]. I produced them before the magistrate. The magistrate recorded their statements. What do I have to do?"

The court questioned whether it was normal for the accused to plead guilty during an investigation into a case.

The court said there was no such precedent in the world that the accused spontaneously pleaded guilty.

"They confessed to rape and murder without committing any crime? The investigation of this case is questionable. How the accused confessed without rape and murder taking place is a big question," the court said about the Narayanganj rape and murder case.

Shishir Monir, counsel for the appellants, said in the hearing that in different countries of the world including the United States, India, and the Netherlands, the statements of the accused are taken in the presence of lawyers or through lawyers.

In Bangladesh also, lawyers should be present at the time of taking the statement of the accused under section 164.

At the hearing, Deputy Attorney General Sarwar Hossain Bappi represented the state, while Advocate Munsurul Haque Chowdhury was present in favour of the two investigating officers.

After the hearing, the court fixed September 24 for delivering an order in the case.

Earlier on August 27, the High Court asked for all the documents of the case, including the ones on the return of the alleged dead teenager in Narayanganj and the confessional statements of the three accused.

The court also summoned two investigating officers involved in the case.

Mohammad Shishir Monir filed the revision petition on August 26 on behalf of five lawyers.