HIGH COURT TO HEAR APPEAL IN JOURNALIST'S SEDITION

UNCLAS DHAKA 000550 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL BG SUBJECT: HIGH COURT TO HEAR APPEAL IN JOURNALIST'S SEDITION CASE ¶1. (SBU) The trial of Salahuddin Shoaib Choudhury, the Bangladeshi journalist charged with sedition, remains postponed pending a High Court Appellate Branch ruling on Choudhury's appeal on the denial of a petition to dismiss the case. The Attorney General's office, which will represent the government during the High Court hearing, told us the case has now been stayed for one month while they examine the file. ¶2. (SBU) Choudhury told POLOFF he had received "positive" signs from the High Court in recent weeks, and views the stay as an indication the government might be backing away from taking the case to trial. Choudhury said government contacts cited Embassy interventions and the Congressional House resolution as contributing to the government's desire to see the case dismissed. Choudhury also said he was receiving new legal assistance from former Canadian Minister of Justice Irvin Cutler, and that Cutler had persuaded prominent Bangladeshi barrister Dr. Kemal Hossain, who he knows personally, to assist with Choudhury's case. ¶3. (SBU) The Attorney General's office offered a different reason for the delay, explaining that the postponement of the High Court hearing was due to a backlog of appeals of the recent higher-profile anti-corruption cases. ¶4. (SBU) Embassy continues to monitor the case closely. POLOFF speaks to Choudhury regularly and Embassy is planning to send an observer to the High Court hearing once it is scheduled. BUTENIS