Facebook posts target Bangladeshi cricketer-politician with fake 'apology' video

Published on February 27, 2024 at 09:57
3 min read
By AFP Bangladesh

Facebook posts with millions of views shared an edited video that appears to show Bangladeshi cricketer-politician Shakib Al Hasan apologising to a fellow member of parliament who accused him of assault. The video fuses separate clips of the men from different years. Shakib had not publicly responded to the assault allegation as of February 26.

"Three members of parliament are on a live show. Shakib got scared in front of Sumon," reads a Bengali-language Facebook post that shared the edited video on January 14, 2024.

The video appears to show Bangladeshi cricketers Shakib Al Hasan (left) and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (centre) who were recently elected to parliament, in a call with politician Sayedul Haque Sumon (right).

Screenshot of a Facebook post sharing the doctored video, taken on February 13, 2024

The edited video has racked up more than eight millions views.

"Hey captain! How are you? You're the troublemaker! You've been getting everyone's backs up lately," Mashrafe, who appears to be mediating the discussion, says in Bengali.

Shakib then appears to apologise to Sumon over an unspecified incident.

"I am sorry from my heart," he says. "But I think he should have been more cautious. I'm seeking forgiveness if I made any mistakes. Of course, I am sorry for that and I hope you all forgive me. I will try not to repeat such incidents in the future."

Sumon remains silent throughout the video. In March 2023, he accused Shakib of assaulting him after he criticised the cricketer's promotional work for a gambling website (archived link).

Shakib had not publicly commented on the allegation.

The doctored video surfaced in similar Facebook posts, including here and here, following Bangladesh's controversial January 7 election that was boycotted by major opposition parties and marred by allegations of rigging and manipulation (archived link).

Shakib and Mashrafe were elected members of parliament for the ruling Awami League.

Sumon -- who was expelled from a leadership position in Awami League's youth wing in 2021 for undisclosed reasons -- snatched victory as an independent.

Separate clips

The video circulating on Facebook in fact shows separate clips of Shakib, Mashrafe and Sumon speaking on three different dates.

Shakib's clip was taken from a video he posted on YouTube on November 16, 2020, in which he apologised for taking part in a Hindu festival and breaking a fan's mobile phone in two separate incidents (archived link).

In the clip, Shakib said he was a "proud Muslim" and apologised if he had offended anyone by attending the festival in Kolkata, for which he reportedly received death threats (archived link).

Below is screenshot comparison between altered video (left) and Shakib's YouTube video from 2020 (right):

Clip in the altered video (left) and Shakib's YouTube video from 2020 (right)

The clip of Mashrafe was taken from a discussion with fellow cricketer Tamim Iqbal in May 2020. The athletes discussed the coronavirus lockdown in Bangladesh at the time.

Tamim live-streamed the video on Facebook on May 5, 2020 (archived link).

Below is screenshot comparison between the video circulating on Facebook (left) and Tamim's video from 2020 (right):

Edited video (left) and Tamim's video from 2020 (right)

The clip of Sumon was taken from an interview he gave to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) on January 12, 2024 in which he discussed the election (archived link).

Below is screenshot comparison showing Sumon in the altered video (left) and DW's video from January 2024 (right):

Clip of Sumon in the altered video (left) and DW's video from January 2024 (right)

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail