Video of attorney general taken out of context to claim Hasina verdict will be overturned
A video is circulating on Facebook claiming that the attorney general said the verdict against Sheikh Hasina for crimes against humanity will be overturned. But Dismislab’s fact-check shows the attorney general made the comment about the verdict that abolished the caretaker government system and not about the judgement on Hasina.
A Facebook post sharing the video says, “The attorney general said the verdict against Sheikh Hasina will be canceled || But apologizing is useless | Awamilig” (Original claim unchanged).” At the 53-second mark of the video, the attorney general is heard saying, “We think that the verdict should not stand. Why not? We believe the verdict was written maliciously for political purposes. We said the verdict was written with political intent to benefit a particular party. Because of this malicious action, the verdict will mainly be canceled on two grounds. Because Bangladesh’s 1972 Constitution was achieved through the Liberation War. The victorious forces decided who would write the Constitution and what its content would be.”
The video claiming the verdict against Sheikh Hasina will be canceled has been viewed nearly 275,000 times and shared more than 2,500 times. Another Facebook page posted the first 26 seconds of the 5:04-minute video with the same claim. That video has been viewed almost 100,000 times.
A keyword search of Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman’s comments found multiple media reports from November 5 (1, 2, 3). A video report posted on ATN Bangla’s Facebook page contains the exact same comments found in the circulating video. A close look at the attorney general, the person beside him, and the row of media boom mics confirms the frames match.
Media reports say the attorney general was speaking about the verdict that abolished the caretaker government system. For example, ATN Bangla’s caption read: “What the attorney general said after the hearing on the appeal to restore the caretaker government.” That day, the appeal hearing against the verdict abolishing the caretaker system continued for the eighth straight day in the bench led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed.
From 18 seconds to 1 minute 1 second in the ATN Bangla report, the attorney general is heard saying about the caretaker government verdict, “We think that verdict should not stand… the verdict will be canceled on two grounds.” He also says, “The Constitution is an organic document.”
Explaining this, from 5 minutes 5 seconds to 27 seconds in the ATN Bangla video, he says, “Because Bangladesh’s 1972 Constitution… the victorious forces of the Liberation War decided.” These two parts were taken out of context and combined to make it appear he was talking about the verdict against Sheikh Hasina for crimes against humanity.
This means the video circulating about overturning Sheikh Hasina’s verdict is actually about the verdict that abolished the caretaker government system.
Dismislab has previously done multiple fact-checks on distorted speech used to spread misinformation. A comment by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman about elections and referendums was misrepresented on X, and Dismislab reported on it on November 25. In October 2024, parts of a speech by National Youth Power convenor Md. Tariqul Islam was edited and spread on Facebook. Dismislab published that report on October 24 the same year.
