Legal notice served to Pori Moni demanding an unconditional apology

Actress Pori Moni has been served a legal notice demanding an apology over allegations of harassing a journalist and disrespecting the national anthem. The notice was sent by Supreme Court lawyer Khandaker Hasan Shahriar.

On Sunday (November 8), the notice was sent to Shamsunnahar Smriti, popularly known as Pori Moni, as well as the president and general secretary of the Bangladesh Film Artistes Association.

The notice asks Pori Moni to issue an unconditional written apology within seven days for the incident that took place on court premises. It also calls on her to refrain from making obscene remarks or using offensive dialogue, issuing threats, engaging in obscene performances or gestures, and performing nude or semi-nude dances in the future. The notice refers to such content being recorded or displayed through films, videos, audiovisual productions, still images, graphics or other media. It further argues that such activities have no artistic or educational value.

The notice also calls on the president and general secretary of the Bangladesh Film Artistes Association to issue a show-cause notice to Pori Moni within seven days and take necessary disciplinary action against her. It warns that appropriate legal action will be taken otherwise.

The controversy began last Thursday (November 5) following an altercation between Pori Moni and a journalist on the premises of the Dhaka Chief Judicial Magistrate Court. Pori Moni and her bodyguards alleged that the journalist had touched her. The journalist, however, claimed that Pori Moni took his mobile phone while he was recording video and broke his tripod. He later recovered his phone.

A social media post by Pori Moni following the incident sparked further criticism. After leaving the court, she published a two-word offensive and aggressive post on her Facebook account. Although it was unclear whom the post was directed at, it received thousands of reactions within an hour. However, followers could not respond directly because the comment section was disabled.