Bergman questions evidence of Asaduzzaman Noor’s detention, criticises NCP statement

British journalist David Bergman has criticised the National Citizen Party (NCP) for its position after the party criticised several media outlets for publishing news on the 80th birthday of former culture minister Asaduzzaman Noor. He alleged that the NCP is treating allegations of criminal offences as established truth without sufficient evidence.

In a Facebook post Bergman raised questions about what kind of evidence exists behind keeping Asaduzzaman Noor in prison. He also commented that the NCP’s position has similarities with the steps taken by the Awami League government against political opponents during its tenure.

Recently the NCP issued a statement condemning Machranga Television and several other media outlets for publishing positive reports on the occasion of Asaduzzaman Noor’s birthday.

In the statement the party said former Awami League MP Noor is in prison on charges of killing protesters and corruption. Terming him a long-time ‘cultural pillar’ of the former government, the NCP alleged that the media outlets are trying to rehabilitate fascism by presenting him positively.

Opposing these statements of the NCP, Bergman said Asaduzzaman Noor has been detained for more than two years on allegations of involvement in the killings of July 2024. However, he claimed that no evidence of his involvement in the shooting incidents has come to light publicly so far.

According to Bergman, there is no video footage of the crime against Noor, no record of objectionable phone conversations, no confessional statement of the crime or any call detail record (CDR) as evidence of involvement in the crime.

He further said there is also no information of his involvement in the killing in the charge sheet submitted against Noor in a murder case of Badda police station. Bergman also mentioned a recent article of his published in Prothom Alo on this issue.

Bergman alleged that people associated with the Awami League are being arrested and kept in detention for long periods without sufficient evidence whenever allegations are raised against them.

He wrote, “I do not want to comment on the intentions of the NCP. However, it is not difficult to get the impression from the party’s statement that they feel comfortable with a criminal justice system where there is no need for evidence and people can be kept in prison on charges of crimes they did not commit.”

Bergman also commented that the NCP is not interested in scrutinising the detention-related decisions of the police and lower courts. In his view, these institutions are historically corrupt and politically influenced.

Bergman also rejected the allegation of ‘unprecedented corruption’ against Noor. He said the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has not filed any case against him.

Bergman also criticised the NCP’s description of Asaduzzaman Noor as a cultural pillar of fascism. In his view, such statements have ignored the long history of Noor’s acting career that began in 1972. He mentioned that Asaduzzaman Noor was a popular television actor even during the previous rule of the BNP.

The NCP statement had said that positively presenting those involved in the killing of people who died in the July uprising is a betrayal of the martyrs and an insult to their families.

Bergman also criticised this statement. In his view, the grief of the families of the deceased is being used to establish allegations for which the NCP has not been able to present evidence.

Bergman wrote, “It is quite distasteful for the NCP to use the grief of the families of the recently deceased to establish claims for which evidence could not be provided.”

In this context he also reminded of the party’s behaviour with political opponents during the Awami League government. He alleged that the Awami League government also used the context of the martyrs of the 1971 Liberation War along with various allegations to belittle political opponents.

He wrote, “If the NCP wants to take the country through the same situation again, it will be extremely unfortunate. Only this time the targets will change.”

Bergman said the main responsibility for keeping Asaduzzaman Noor in prison lies with the BNP government. However, it appears that the NCP is supporting the policy of arbitrary detention that the government is following.

Reminding both parties he said that to bring anyone to justice in the July killings there must be credible evidence of murder or attempt to murder. According to Bergman, “Everyone else should be released.”

Meanwhile the NCP has called upon the media outlets to stop attempts to downplay the crimes of people associated with the former Awami League government. The party has also called upon the Ministry of Information to form a media commission.