Aljazeera Investigations: All The Prime Minister's Men, what is in the report, what is the Bangladesh government and army saying?
The Bangladesh government has strongly protested the Qatar-based international news outlet Al Jazeera on Monday after allegations of corruption against powerful people in an investigative documentary about Bangladesh.
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| Bangladesh Army Chief General Aziz Ahmed (Photo from Al-Jazeera report). |
Al Jazeera's investigation mainly highlights the past and present activities of the family members of Army Chief General Aziz Ahmed and alleges various forms of corruption.
The report, titled 'All the Prime Minister's Men', has been widely discussed on social media since it was first aired 4 days ago.
However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh has strongly protested.
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| The person marked in red is Anis Ahmed, to his left is Haris Ahmed. Al Jazeera reports that they were spotted at a wedding in Dhaka (pictured from Al Jazeera). |
Al Jazeera's nearly hour-long report focuses on the activities of Bangladesh's army chief, General Aziz Ahmed, and his three brothers.
Army Chief General Aziz Ahmed's three brothers were convicted in a 2004 murder.
Among the brothers, Anis Ahmed and Haris Ahmed are currently on the run.
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The third brother, Tofail Ahmed Joseph, who was convicted of murder, was released from prison with a presidential pardon.
Although the two brothers Haris Ahmed and Anis Ahmed are fugitives, Al Jazeera's investigative report found Haris Ahmed and Anis Ahmed in Bangladesh at the wedding of General Aziz Ahmed's son. The report shows that Anis Ahmed lives in Kuala Lumpur and Haris Ahmed lives in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.
What kind of corruption is being accused?
The report explores Haris Ahmed's business activities in Budapest through secret recordings.
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| Home information of Haris Ahmed and Anis Ahmed in Kuala Lumpur |
It has been shown that he has changed his name to Hasan Mohammad and has set up several businesses in different countries.
In a conversation with a Bangladeshi businessman in Budapest, he is seen talking about supplying bullets to the Bangladesh Army.
In that Al Jazeera report, Haris Ahmed was heard to say how much money was taken to get a police job, such as the post of OC of a police station.
He says there, in this case up to 5 crore rupees was taken.
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| Business documents of Haris Ahmed (photo taken from Al-Jazeera report). |
Haris Ahmed mentioned that the top people of the government are involved in this work.
The response of the Bangladesh government and the army
A statement from the Defense Ministry's Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate strongly condemned the report.
The statement said: "It is not clear how international news channels such as Al Jazeera were linked to people with previous criminal records. The video was created using technology using clips from various official, social, and private events. Scenes have been edited and voiced. "
The Bangladesh government has described the report as false and insulting.
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| Haris Ahmed in Budapest (Photo from Al Jazeera). |
A statement from the State Department today described it as "reckless and dirty propaganda incited by extremists and their allies in London and elsewhere."
The statement said the Bangladesh government was rejecting it. It is not surprising, then, that some convicted fugitive criminals and notorious individuals backed by the Jamaat-e-Islami carry out anti-Bangladesh propaganda in their traditional guise, the report said. They have conspired with various extremist international groups and the media, especially Al Jazeera.
The statement said the main source of the allegations in the Al Jazeera report was a suspected international criminal, whom Al Jazeera itself called a "psychopath".
"There is not the slightest evidence of the involvement of that particular person with the Prime Minister or any state institution in Bangladesh. "It is extremely irresponsible for an international news channel to reach a final decision based on the words of someone who is mentally unbalanced," the statement said.