A Bangladesh court on Tuesday found an award-winning British journalist guilty of contempt for questioning the official death toll of three million in the country's 1971 war. Judges from a special war crimes court ruled that a blog and two other articles written by David Bergman "hurt the feelings of the nation" and ordered him to pay a 5,000 taka ($65) fine or go to prison for a week.
The case was seen as a test of the country's commitment to free speech after Bergman cast doubt on the official version of one of the most contentious issues in Bangladesh's short history. In a November 2011 post, he questioned whether there was evidence to support the official death toll and referred to other studies suggesting the real figure may be much lower. Most independent estimates put the actual toll at hundreds of thousands. Delivering the verdict in the capital Dhaka, presiding judge Obaidul Hassan told the courtroom that "freedom of expression can be exercised in good faith and public interest". "David Bergman neither has good faith nor an issue of public interest," the judge added.
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