Recent reports from various media outlets stated that UN Secretary-General António Guterres sent a letter of congratulations to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following her re-election. This news, however, was met with skepticism by some Facebook users and political figures, causing public uncertainty about the letter’s legitimacy.
See related Facebook posts here (archive), here (archive), and here (archive).
See related YouTube videos here (archive), and here (archive).
On January 21, Mahmudur Rahman Manna, the President of Nagorik Oikko, claimed in a speech that the government had fabricated the letter from the UN Secretary-General. Watch the video of his speech here.
See related TikTok videos here (archive), here (archive), here (archive), and here (archive).
Fact Check
The Rumor Scanner team’s investigation has verified that the online letter congratulating Sheikh Hasina on her re-election as Prime Minister, signed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, is authentic.
An initial clue was found in a January 20 post by Mohammad Ali Arafat, the recently appointed State Minister for Information and Broadcasting. The post featured a photograph of a letter from Guterres to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. As per the details in the post, the letter was sent on January 19, based on Bangladesh’s local time.
To further confirm the letter’s validity, we reached out to Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, via email. Dujarric verified the letter’s authenticity, stating, “Yes, I can confirm that such a letter was sent. It is important to note that the Secretary-General traditionally sends such letters to Heads of Governments and Heads of States following an election.”
Bottom Line
A letter from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, congratulating Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on her fourth consecutive term in government, became viral online, with many questioning its authenticity. A political figure even publicly denounced the letter as a forgery. However, Stéphane Dujarric, the UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson, has assured Rumor Scanner of the letter’s genuineness.
So, the rumors circulating online that the letter from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, congratulating Sheikh Hasina on her re-election as Prime Minister, is fake are false.
Sources
- X post by Mohammad A. Arafat – https://twitter.com/MAarafat71/status/1748674493172822520
- Statement from Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
