Editor acquitted in plot to abduct, kill Hasina’s son

A court in Bangladesh on Monday acquitted a prominent newspaper editor in a case related to a failed plot to abduct and kill ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy in the US in 2015.

Dhaka 4th Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Tarique Aziz pronounced the judgment, allowing Mahmudur Rahman's appeal against his conviction and sentence in the case, The Daily Star newspaper reported.

The judge said the charges brought against the appellant were found to be false and fabricated. So, the judgment sentencing him by the trial court was scrapped and the appellant was acquitted, said the judge in his order.

After the judgment, Mahmudur, the editor of the daily Amar Desh, told the journalists that he finally got justice from the court and he would continue his fight against fascism, which was also the country's struggle, it said.

On August 17 last year, a Dhaka court had sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment in his absence. Mahmudur returned to Bangladesh on September 27 last year after spending over five and a half years in exile. Two days later, he surrendered and was sent to jail.