Dhaka: Tariq Rahman’s government in Bangladesh has directed all print, electronic, online and social media platforms to comply with court directions, barring them from broadcasting or publishing statements of ousted former prime minister and “fugitive” Sheikh Hasina. Several media outlets in Bangladesh published and aired Hasina’s interview with news agency Reuters on Friday.The government statement on Friday night cited a 2024 ban imposed by the International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) on the broadcast of statements made by Hasina.Additionally, other legal restrictions exist on the broadcast of statements, interviews or audio-video speeches of a fugitive criminal sentenced by a court in Bangladesh.Prominent London-based Bangladeshi journalist Syed Badrul Ahsan said Hasina’s statement in which she promised to return to Bangladesh reinforces the fact that she remains the country’s paramount leader.Ahsan said, “The nation should guarantee the safety of the former prime minister upon her return to the country. She was the target of assassination in grenade blasts in Chittagong in 1988 and Dhaka in 2004.”