Mahmudur Rahman

Mahmudur Rahman (; born 6 July 1953) is one of the owners and editor of one of Bangladesh's Bengali daily newspapers, ''Amar Desh''. He is also an author, engineer and businessman.

Established in business, Mahmudur Rahman was appointed the executive chairman of the National Investment Board in 2002, and then elevated to national energy adviser in 2005. In both positions, Mahmudur Rahman set high goals for attracting foreign investments and increasing energy capacity in Bangladesh. While he had success in attracting foreign investors, he also took controversial steps such as increasing petrol prices or developing open-pit mines that set off protests across the country.

Since the restoration of civilian government and the Awami League victory in 2008, Mahmudur Rahman has been a strong critic of the government through his newspaper. Party and government officials have reacted by charging him with defamation and sedition cases more than 50 times since 2009 to 2013. He is the only person to be sentenced for contempt by the Bangladesh Supreme Court. International human rights groups and press organisations have characterised the government's actions against him as judicial harassment. Critics have said he has misrepresented bloggers and activists associated with the 2013 Shahbag protests and contributed to widespread religious tensions and civil unrest. Provided by Wikipedia