Staff Correspondent: The Capital Market Journalists Forum (CMJF) has strongly condemned a lawsuit filed against its member and former joint general secretary Ibrahim Hossain Rezwan by NRB Equity Management Ltd, describing it as “false, motivated, harassing and retaliatory”.

NRB Equity Management filed the case at a Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court on March 10, 2026, over a report published on January 11 concerning alleged fraud, corruption and misappropriation of funds in the capital market involving the company.

In a statement issued on Monday, CMJF President Monir Hossain and General Secretary Ahsan Habib Russell said the report contained a detailed analysis of alleged irregularities surrounding the listing of Associated Oxygen on the stock market in 2020 through the issue management services of NRB Equity Management.

According to the statement, the report highlighted alleged irregularities including placement trading and forged signatures in the prospectus in connection with bringing Associated Oxygen to the capital market.

The CMJF leaders said that 10 days after publication of the report, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), the capital market regulator, formed a three-member investigation committee on January 21 to examine the allegations.

The committee has since submitted its investigation report, and the matter is currently under consideration by the BSEC’s Enforcement Department for necessary action, the CMJF said, citing information it had confirmed.

Against this backdrop, the journalists’ organisation said it considers the lawsuit an attempt to harass the journalist and suppress reporting on alleged irregularities and corruption in the capital market.

“Filing such a case is a failed attempt to silence the media and a calculated effort to discourage journalism aimed at exposing irregularities in the capital market,” the statement said.

The CMJF said that if any published report contains factual errors or inconsistencies, the appropriate course of action would be to issue a rebuttal, seek a correction or lodge a complaint before a competent legal or professional forum, such as the Press Council.

Instead, filing a criminal case directly against a journalist and seeking an arrest warrant amounts to an attempt to intimidate the journalist and his family and discourage the publication of factual reports, the organisation said.

The CMJF demanded the immediate withdrawal of the case against Ibrahim Hossain Rezwan.

The organisation also reaffirmed its commitment to protecting press freedom and supporting journalists facing harassment or injustice in the course of their professional duties.

“A free and independent media is an essential condition for building a sound, transparent and accountable capital market,” the CMJF leaders said, adding that the organisation would continue to stand beside its members and speak out against any form of harassment or injustice.