(Media Watch/IFEX) – The following is a 6 April 2002 Media Watch press release: 1. On 5 April 2002, terrorists threatened to kill M. A. Feroz and Latif Siddiqi, local journalists and members of the Gazipur press club. The individuals also threatened to blow up the Gazipur press club. A general diary was filed with […]
(Media Watch/IFEX) – The following is a 6 April 2002 Media Watch press release:
1. On 5 April 2002, terrorists threatened to kill M. A. Feroz and Latif Siddiqi, local journalists and members of the Gazipur press club. The individuals also threatened to blow up the Gazipur press club. A general diary was filed with the local police station in connection with this matter.
Recently, local journalists in Gazipur reported on the gambling in the region, mentioning the name of the “godfather” of these criminal activities in the story. After this news was published on 24 March, police raided the gambling area and arrested ten gamblers. Since then, a group of gamblers and terrorists have blamed journalists for their reports against them. Several general diaries were filed with the local police station in connection with this matter. Finally on 5 April, terrorist leader Mominuddin, together with some of his followers, threatened to kill Feroz and Latif and to blow up the press club. So far no one has been arrested in connection with the incident.
2. The Bangladeshi government is planning to sue the Asian magazine “Far Estern Economic Review” for publishing an article said to have tarnished the country’s image. Newspapers reported that the suit will be for US$1 billion. On 3 April, the Bangladeshi government banned the 4 April edition of the “Far Eastern Economic Review”. The home affairs minister announced that copies of the magazine had been seized and that its “publication, sale, distribution and possession” were banned. According to the authorities, the article by Bertil Lintner entitled “A Cocoon of Terror” was “baseless.” The journalist, based in Thailand, described the upsurge of Islamic groups in Bangladesh, a country with a vast Muslim majority. In particular, he wrote that in Bangladesh there were “radical groups linked to international terrorist organisations”.
During a session in parliament, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia denounced those who “were trying, at home and abroad, to tarnish the country’s image by spreading false and malicious information.” The article in the “Far Eastern Economic Review” was headline news in the country’s main dailies. Some Bangladeshi editorial writers confirmed the emergence of an Islamic tendency but also noted certain errors in Bertil Lintner’s report.
3. Tanveer Hasan, Munshigonj district correspondent for the daily Prothom ALO, received death threats from unidentified terrorists. After a report by Tanveer on the law and order situation was published in the daily, on 25 March unidentified terrorists telephoned Tanveer and threatened to kill him. On 28 March, he received a telephone call in his home, during which he was told of the final deadline by which the members of the terrorist group would kill him. After his report was published, Tanveer filed a general diary with the local police station on 23 March.
