JOURNALIST SHOAIB CHOUDHURY'S TRIAL POSTPONED

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 000413 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2017 TAGS: PHUM PREL BG SUBJECT: JOURNALIST SHOAIB CHOUDHURY'S TRIAL POSTPONED Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Geta Pasi; reason 1.4(d) ¶1. (SBU) The sedition trial of journalist Shoaib Choudhury, scheduled to start March 8, was postponed to April 23 after the court accepted a last minute, hand-written petition by Shoaib's lawyer to stay the trial until the High Court ruled on a separate, pending petition in the case. A hearing on the petition before the High Court is scheduled for March 28. Under Bangladeshi law, a trial may not proceed while a petition is pending before the appellate level courts. Shoaib's lawyer had not previously notified the trial court that a petition was pending before the appellate court. It is not clear why the attorney waited until the day of trial to file his petition for postponement. ¶2. (U) During a hearing on the petition, the prosecutor pointed out several procedural flaws in the petition and complained that the petition could have been filed earlier, eliminating the need to have witnesses available for the scheduled trial. Nonetheless, the prosecutor said he would not object to a postponement, and the petition was granted. ¶3. (C) Poloff met separately with the prosecution and defense lawyers prior to the scheduled start of the trial. The prosecutor said the case was not significant but he lacked the legal authority to simply dismiss it. He said former Home Minister Babar had also sought ways to end the case, but the prosecutor claimed Shoaib's lawyer had fumbled the opportunity with a poorly drafted September 2006 petition to dismiss the case that failed to cite any grounds for dismissal. The prosecutor questioned the competence of Shoaib's lawyer and suggested Shoaib could file a petition of no-confidence against the judge, which the prosecutor believed would almost certainly lead to a further postponement of the trial. (Note: Shoaib has argued the judge is biased against him. Shoaib previously told poloff that his lawyer would file a petition of no-confidence.) ¶4. (C) Comment: Shoaib's failure to act on prudent legal advice to win a dismissal of the charges lends increasing credence to the view that Shoaib prefers to keep the trial, and his notoriety, in the public spotlight. PASI