Claim of Sheikh Hasina appointing lawyer in ICJ is false
A recent social media claim suggested that former Prime Minister and Awami League president Sheikh Hasina has hired a lawyer to fight a case against Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the Chief Adviser of the Interim Government of Bangladesh, at the International Court of Justice in Switzerland. The posts included a video alleging that a swiss lawyer named Mike Papantonio was briefing the case. However, fact-checking explains that the video featured a U.S. Senator speaking on a completely unrelated issue. Further verification by Awami League officials confirmed to Dismislab that the claim of Sheikh Hasina hiring a lawyer for a case in Swiss courts is false.
Multiple posts on Facebook (1, 2, 3, 4) claimed, along with video and images, that Swiss lawyer Mike Papantonio was giving a direct briefing on a case against Dr. Muhammad Yunus at the Switzerland International Court of Justice. The posts also claimed that Mark Sherman, a lawyer, had been appointed by Sheikh Hasina to fight the case on her behalf. The caption of the posts stated, “What God wills no frost can kill… Prime Minister Sheikh has obtained India’s travel documents, allowing her to travel globally. 2. Sheikh Hasina has appointed a lawyer at the Switzerland International Court of Justice, and renowned Swiss lawyer Mark Sherman will fight the case. 3. Swiss lawyer Mike Papantonio is giving a direct briefing on the case against Dr. Yunus at the International Court of Justice.” Another post, with the video attached, claimed that Swiss lawyer Rudy Giuliani was involved in the case.
Dismislab’s verification revealed that the person speaking in the video is not Mike Papantonio or Rudy Giuliani, but U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. His full speech is available in a video uploaded on US-based news media MSNBC’s official YouTube channel. The video contains no mention of any case against Dr. Yunus. Instead, Senator Whitehouse is heard discussing the MAGA (Make America Great Again) campaign. He made the remarks during MSNBC’s weekly show, “The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell.” It is worth noting that in January of this year, 12 U.S. Senators, including Senator Whitehouse, urged former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to stop the legal harassment of Dr. Muhammad Yunus.
The posts also included images of two women, claimed to be lawyers. A reverse image search identified them as Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, both U.S. Supreme Court justices. Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away in 2021, confirming that the images were unrelated to the claims.
To confirm the facts, Dismislab contacted Awami League via their official mail (Info@albd.org). In a return mail they confirmed that all these claims were baseless. Emails were also sent to the mentioned lawyers, and their responses will be added upon receipt.
In a related incident, another claim circulated suggesting Sheikh Hasina would soon undertake international trips as “Prime Minister” to countries including Switzerland, Finland, the UAE, and Turkey. Dismislab’s verification revealed that this claim, too, was false.
