Desk Report:
The court has ordered the Australian national broadcaster ABC to pay a fine of 150,000 Australian dollars for wrongfully dismissing journalist Antoinette Latuff. In Bengali, this is more than 12 million taka in local currency. However, even before this compensation, the company paid her another 70,000 dollars (more than 56 million taka).
On Wednesday (September 24), Australian Federal Court Justice Daryl Rangaia said that the additional large fine was imposed so that the ABC could learn a lesson. As a result, Latuff will receive 220,000 Australian dollars (more than 17.6 million taka) in total.
The BBC reported that Latuff was suddenly removed from ABC Radio in Sydney in December 2023 after making a post on social media about the Gaza war. Although she was contracted to present for a week, she was asked to leave the program after just three days. The matter was later leaked to the media.
The post Latuf shared was a Human Rights Watch report accusing Israel of starving the people of Gaza. Israel denied the allegations, but the International Criminal Court later said it had sufficient evidence to support the claim.
The ABC claimed that Latuf had been instructed not to post anything about the war on social media and that his post had breached the company’s policy. However, the court ruled that he had never been instructed to do so. His post may have been inconsiderate, but he was dismissed without any opportunity to speak out on suspicion.
Justice Rangaia said the ABC had initially removed him under pressure from pro-Israel groups and that management had deliberately made him a “scapegoat”. He added that “in order to appease a lobby group, the ABC had failed to fulfil its responsibilities to its staff and the Australian public.”
Latuf has a long history in Australian media and is known for his active role in issues such as racism, media discrimination and mental health. The action against him has raised questions and sparked widespread criticism across the country about the ABC’s independence and responsibility to its employees.
The ABC has already publicly expressed regret over the incident. However, the court said the company’s regret was not sufficient as it failed to find out who was responsible for the leak of the dismissal information to the media.
The ruling ordered the ABC to pay Latuf the full amount of the fine within 28 days.
