''All the Prime Minister's Men'' is a 2021 Qatari English-language investigative documentary on

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

published by the international media

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

, alleging corruption against powerful political and military figures in Bangladesh. The documentary focuses on the past and present activities of the former Chief of Army Staff of the

Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army () is the land warfare branch, and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to defend the land of Bangladesh from any external attack. Control of personnel and operations is ad ...

General Aziz Ahmed's family members and alleges various forms of corruption.

Description

The documentary follows General Aziz Ahmed (who served as Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Army from June 2018 till June 2021) and his three brothers' activities. Aziz's three brothers were convicted in 2004 of a murder. Among the brothers, Anis Ahmed and Haris Ahmed are currently on the run. A third brother, Tofail Ahmed Joseph, was released from prison with a presidential pardon. Although the two brothers are on the run, the documentary shows marrying Aziz Ahmed's son in

. Here Anis Ahmed is shown in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and Haris Ahmed in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

's capital

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. Harris Ahmed's business activities in Budapest were investigated through secret recordings. He changed his name to Hasan Mohammad and set up several businesses in different countries. In a conversation with a Bangladeshi businessman in Budapest, he is seen talking about supplying bullets to the Bangladesh Army. He also mentioned that up to Tk 5 crore was taken to get the job of

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

with the connivance of the top people of the government. According to the report, Aziz directly helped

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

in the 2014's and 2018's elections by the agreement of a secret mutual contract. In a trapped secret interview by Al Jazeera, Haris said that, the chief of police Benazir Ahmed do everything according to their command. The documents also showed that security forces imported Internet and mobile phone surveillance technology from Israel. However, Haris Ahmed was not contacted for comment. In other video recordings, Azis's brother Haris boasts of profits he made from military contracts using his brother's power as army chief to extract bribes. The documentary also provided photographic evidence that in March 2019, Haris and Anis visited

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

for the wedding of Aziz's son, where the two fugitives partied alongside Bangladesh President

Mohammad Abdul Hamid Mohammad Abdul Hamid (born 1 January 1944) is a Bangladeshis, Bangladeshi retired politician, lawyer and statesman who served as the President of Bangladesh from 2013 to 2023, making him the longest serving president in the History of Banglad ...

and foreign dignitaries during an opulent ceremony. Zulkarnain Saer Khan — referred to as "Sami" in the film is the whistleblower central to Al Jazeera's investigative documentary, "All the Prime Ministers Men". Khan was part of Al Jazeera's investigation that unearthed links between the prime minister and criminal gangs.

Bangladeshi government response

The documentary has been alleged to be defamatory by the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

and Army Headquarters. In a statement, the foreign ministry said, In a statement, the army headquarter of Bangladesh said,

Awards

Al Jazeera won the top prize for "Best Human Rights Journalism" (investigation category) in the 8th annual

Amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

Media award for the documentary in 2022.

Reaction and aftermath

After the documentary published, Counter Terrorism & Transnational Crime (CTTC) has submitted charge sheet before a Dhaka court against expatriate Zulkarnain Saer Khan alias Sami and six others in a case filed under Digital Security Act (DSA). In March 2023 Mahinur Ahmed Khan, alleges he was beaten with iron rods by four men in the Shewrapara, Mirpur, Dhaka. Mahinur's brother, Zulkarnain Saer Khan, was one of the journalists who worked with Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit (I-Unit) on All the Prime Minister's Men US embassy in Dhaka spokesperson Bryan Schiller in a statement, expects a thorough investigation into a reported attack on Mahinur Ahmed Khan.

References

External links

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Al Jazeera Investigative Unit website
{{Sheikh Hasina 2021 films 2021 television films 2021 documentary films Qatari documentary films Premiership of Sheikh Hasina Al Jazeera English original programming Documentary films about Bangladesh Political scandals in Bangladesh Awami League scandals 2020s English-language films English-language Qatari films English-language documentary films