(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 24 April 2001 letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, CPJ stated that it is greatly alarmed by the frequency and severity of violent attacks against journalists in Bangladesh, and urged her government to take immediate action to ensure that these crimes are prosecuted vigorously. In the past week alone, one journalist […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 24 April 2001 letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, CPJ stated that it is greatly alarmed by the frequency and severity of violent attacks against journalists in Bangladesh,
and urged her government to take immediate action to ensure that these crimes are prosecuted vigorously.
In the past week alone, one journalist died of fatal injuries sustained during an attack by armed kidnappers, another had his leg amputated after being shot and knifed by assailants, and two journalists were beaten up and harassed by a group led by an official of the ruling party.
* Shortly before midnight on 21 April, Nahar Ali, a correspondent for the Khulna-based, Bengali-language daily “Anirban”, died while undergoing treatment at Khulna Medical College Hospital. Late on the night of 17 April, masked men kidnapped Ali from his home in the village of Shovna, according to local press reports. The assailants beat him severely and broke his legs and arms before abandoning him on the outskirts of his village. Ali was eventually found, unconscious and severely tortured, and taken to the hospital in Khulna, a major city in southwestern Bangladesh. CPJ sources say that Ali, who worked as the Dumuria sub-district correspondent for “Anirban”, may have been killed for his reporting on the activities of local criminal syndicates. Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder, according to a 24 April report in the Dhaka-based, English-language daily “The Independent”.
* On the morning of 20 April, Prabir Shikder, Faridpur correspondent for the national Bengali-language daily “Janakantha”, was on a reporting assignment when he was ambushed by a group of armed men just outside Faridpur town. The attackers had been waiting by the roadside in a van, according to eyewitness accounts recorded in the local press, and threw several Molotov cocktails at Shikder as he approached on his motorcycle. Several of the men then shot the journalist and stabbed him repeatedly before fleeing the scene. The reporter was rushed to Faridpur Medical College Hospital, and later transferred to the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in Dhaka. Doctors have amputated Shikder’s right leg, which was shattered by bullets. The journalist also sustained multiple stab injuries and bullet wounds in his right hand and arm. Local journalists say Shikder was most likely attacked for his reporting on the alleged collaboration of prominent local figures with Pakistani forces during the 1971 war for independence. Shikder had also covered organized crime and its links to local police.
*At around 1:30 a.m. on April 19, a group of men led by Mamunur Rashid Mamun, a ward commissioner in the Chittagong City Corporation, forced their way into the offices of the local Bengali-language daily “Purbakon”. The group physically assaulted chief sub-editor Iskander Ali Chowdhury and journalist Jalaluddin Ahmed Chowdhury, and forced them out of the building. The two were threatened and then shoved into a nearby roadside ditch. In an interview published on 24 April by the Bengali-language daily “Sangbad”, Mamun admits going to the “Purbakon” office, but denies attacking the journalists. Mamun maintains that he visited the newspaper office to ask why “Purbakon”, an independent newspaper, did not give favorable coverage to the ruling Awami League. In the front-page interview, Mamun also states that he had the blessings of senior party officials and is confident that “Nobody can touch me.” Mamun added that he does not believe he will be arrested, though police in Panchlaish Thana have registered a case against him under the Public Safety Act.
Perhaps no case has been more widely publicized than the vicious assault in January of Tipu Sultan, a reporter for the United News of Bangladesh in Feni. Despite ample evidence that Sultan was attacked on the orders of Joynal Hazari, an Awami League member of parliament from Feni, no serious efforts have been made to prosecute his case. Sultan remains hospitalized in Dhaka with multiple broken bones and fractures in his hands, arms, and legs, and may suffer permanent disabilities if he does not receive specialized orthopedic treatment.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the prime minister:
– expressing shock over the fact that her administration continues to tolerate attacks against the press in Bangladesh, with the result that criminals apparently believe they can target journalists with total impunity
– noting that as the leader of the Awami League, she has a special obligation to ensure that party leaders such as Hazari and Mamun are brought to justice
– respectfully urging Her Excellency to order the transfer of all four cases mentioned above out of the hands of local authorities
– suggesting that these investigations should be undertaken at the highest level, by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and noting that such action would send a reassuring signal to the country’s besieged press
– asking to be kept informed about the progress of these investigations, and about other steps Her Excellency is taking to curb the high incidence of attacks against the press in Bangladesh
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina
Prime Minister, People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Prime Minister
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Fax: +88 02 811 3244
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
