Former Agence France-Presse (AFP) text stringer and video journalist Shikder Abir Mahmud Jahan, better known by his byline Sam Jahan, has publicly countered claims by his former colleague Shafiqul Alam that he was dismissed after an AFP corruption investigation.
On Sunday, Jahan released the official 2023 termination letter and his own resignation letter, which cite operational reasons tied to client demand rather than any misconduct.
In a recent public statement, Alam, who served as press secretary to interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus from August 2024 until February 2026, wrote: “Sam Jahan was my colleague at AFP for more than seven years. He was hired as a text stringer and later moved to video reporting. He lost his job after AFP investigated him for corruption, and he later found work at Reuters.”
Jahan, now a Reuters video correspondent, responded by sharing the documents. The AFP termination letter, dated January 16, 2023, and signed by Sebastien Berger, then Director for South Asia, states that “in the light of the global pressures on the media in general and AFP in particular” and “changing demand from our clients,” it was “no longer possible for us to continue to retain the services of a Text Stringer in Bangladesh.”
t gave two months’ notice under the services agreement, setting the last day as March 15, 2023, with an option for immediate payout of the notice period. The letter makes no reference to any investigation, corruption, or disciplinary proceedings.
Jahan’s resignation letter, dated the same day and marked received by the AFP Dhaka bureau, confirms his decision to quit as text reporter (noting his additional video work and Human Rights Press Awards recognition). He accepted the two-month notice effective January 16, 2023, preferred to take remaining paid time until March 15, and committed to returning equipment. Both letters are consistent with a business-driven end to the stringer arrangement amid AFP’s resource review, not a corruption finding.
Jahan has described Alam as a former senior colleague from whom he learned news gathering, but he has previously detailed what he calls Alam’s “bizarre” practices in a July 31, 2025, Facebook post. He has accused Alam of spreading market rumours about him and of broader patterns of conduct that he says were visible from the inside during their years at the AFP Dhaka bureau.
Background and Broader Allegations
Alam joined AFP in 2005 as a correspondent, became Dhaka bureau chief in 2012, and held that post until his appointment as Yunus’s press secretary in August 2024. He returned to journalism afterward as editor of the English daily Daily Wada. Jahan worked at AFP roughly from 2015 to early 2023 as the local text stringer (later also doing video) before joining Reuters.
Separately, Alam has faced public allegations of influence-peddling and nepotism during his tenure as press secretary. A complaint filed with the Anti-Corruption Commission has accused him of using his position to install his brother, Dr. Abu Nasar Mohammad Abdullah (a government joint secretary), as administrator of Narayanganj City Corporation, enabling alleged irregularities worth around Tk 2,000 crore through contracts and financial manipulation. Alam has denied lobbying for the appointment, stating he made no calls to relevant ministries and does not believe in nepotism. Reports have also referred to him by the moniker “Dustbin Shafik” in connection with these claims. Critics have further questioned his dual role as a senior AFP bureau chief who later became the official spokesperson for the Yunus interim government.
Jahan has said he retains additional documents and has chosen not to release everything, while rejecting Alam’s characterisation of his departure. He has also warned Alam’s current associates against treating him as an unimpeachable figure, citing past patterns of distancing from people once they were no longer useful.
Neither AFP nor Alam has issued a detailed public rebuttal to the specific termination documents released by Jahan as of this writing.