David Bergman slams NCP over Noor statement, questions evidence behind detention

Journalist David Bergman has criticised the National Citizen Party (NCP) for condemning media outlets that marked former culture minister Asaduzzaman Noor’s 80th birthday, accusing the party of treating unsubstantiated criminal allegations as established facts.

In a Facebook post, Bergman questioned the evidence behind Noor’s continued detention and accused the NCP of adopting practices reminiscent of those used against political opponents under the Awami League government.

The NCP had issued a statement condemning Maasranga Television and other media outlets for publishing birthday tributes describing Noor as an actor or cultural personality.

The party said Noor, a former Awami League lawmaker, was imprisoned over allegations of killing protesters and involvement in corruption.

It described him as a longstanding “cultural pillar” of the former government and accused media outlets of attempting to rehabilitate fascism by portraying him positively.

Bergman challenged those assertions.

He acknowledged that Noor had been detained for more than two years over allegations linked to the July 2024 killings but said no evidence connecting him to the shootings had been made public.

“There is no incriminating video, no compromising intercepted phone conversation, no damning statement made by him, and no inculpatory CDR phone records,” Bergman wrote.

He said a charge sheet filed against Noor in a Badda murder case contained nothing connecting the former minister to the killing.

Bergman referred to his recent article in Prothom Alo examining the case.

He argued that allegations against people associated with the Awami League could lead to arrests and prolonged detention regardless of the available evidence.

“I don’t want to impute motives to the NCP, but it is difficult not to conclude from its statement that the party is comfortable with a criminal justice system where evidence is unnecessary and people are locked up on allegations of crimes they did not commit,” he wrote.

Bergman said the NCP appeared unwilling to scrutinise detention decisions made by police and lower courts, institutions he described as historically corrupt and politically compromised.

He also disputed the party’s allegation of “unprecedented corruption,” saying the Anti-Corruption Commission had not filed any case against Noor.

Addressing the NCP’s description of Noor as a cultural pillar of fascism, Bergman said the characterisation ignored an acting career dating back to 1972.

He pointed out that Noor had remained a popular television actor even during previous BNP governments.

The NCP statement had described positive media coverage of Noor as a betrayal of those killed during the July uprising and an insult to their families.

Bergman criticised the party for invoking the victims’ suffering to support allegations he said it had failed to substantiate.

“There is something rather distasteful about the NCP invoking the grief of the families of the recently dead to support claims it cannot substantiate,” he wrote.

He drew parallels with the Awami League's treatment of political opponents, accusing the former ruling party of using allegations and references to the victims of the 1971 Liberation War to justify political stigmatisation.

“It would be a great pity if the NCP wants the country to go through the same thing again, with the targets reversed,” he wrote.

Bergman said the BNP government bore primary responsibility for Noor’s continued detention but criticised the NCP for appearing to support what he called the government's policy of arbitrary detention.

He urged both parties to recognise that prosecution over the July killings must be based on credible evidence of murder or attempted murder.

“Everyone else should be released,” he wrote.

The NCP, meanwhile, has urged media organisations to stop what it described as attempts to minimise the crimes of individuals associated with the former Awami League government.

It also called on the Information Ministry to establish a media commission.

Bergman's comments concern the publicly disclosed evidence against Noor. They do not establish whether investigators possess additional evidence that has not been made public.

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