The International Crimes Tribunal yesterday cautioned Daily Naya Diganta reporter Mehedi Hasan for misreporting a statement of ninth prosecution witness Altaf Hossain Hawlader against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee.
Referring to a news report titled “Maulana Sayedeer dike takiye shakkhi bollen 'onaketo chinlam na'” (Looking at Maulana Sayedee, the witness said 'I can't quite recognise him') published on the front page of the yesterday's Naya Diganta, the court said the information in the report is wrong.
After the reporter apologised to the court and promised to publish a clarification on the front page of the today's newspaper, the tribunal accepted it as a misunderstanding.
It said the tribunal has noticed similar wrong information in the newspaper in the past, and directed the reporter and the newspaper to publish a clarification in its front page today.
Earlier, prosecutor Zead-al-Malum presented the yesterday's copy of the Daily Naya Diganta before the court requesting action.
It found that witness Altaf Hossain Chowdhury had actually said, “onake thik dekthe parchi na” (I cannot quite see him) and came to the conclusion that the reporter had misheard the witness.
The tribunal than asked the media to cross check every information and be clear about them before publishing.