(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced outrage over ruling party activists’ renewed involvement in violence against journalists. In the latest incident, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists threatened to cut off the hands of Shawkat Milton, a correspondent from the Bengali-language newspaper “Janakantha” in the southern city of Patuakhali. They have also prevented the newspaper’s distribution since […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced outrage over ruling party activists’ renewed involvement in violence against journalists. In the latest incident, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists threatened to cut off the hands of Shawkat Milton, a correspondent from the Bengali-language newspaper “Janakantha” in the southern city of Patuakhali. They have also prevented the newspaper’s distribution since 23 November 2003.
“This behaviour must be punished because it is threatening press freedom,” the organisation said in a letter to Interior Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, the parliamentary representative of the constituency where BNP members have been staging these incidents. “It is your duty to call these BNP officials to order and ensure they are punished for breaking the law, even if they claim to be your supporters,” RSF said.
Milton has been the target of violence on several occasions in recent years (see IFEX alerts of 21 and 17 March 2003, among others). RSF is very concerned for his safety.
Mashiur Rahman, of the Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal youth movement, and other BNP activists began blocking the distribution of “Janakantha”, a Dhaka-based independent daily, in Patuakhali on 23 November. Hundreds of copies of the newspaper have been burned and news vendors have been threatened with violence if they sell the paper.
The activists also publicly burned an effigy of Milton and threatened to “cut off his hands.” Milton has effectively been banned from the city.
The violent incidents were prompted by reports in the newspaper accusing Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal members of involvement in criminal activity, including providing protection for drug traffickers. Rahman, who leads the Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal, has been portraying himself as the interior minister’s “assistant”.
Distribution of “Janakantha” was previously banned in 1999 by officials of the Awami League, which is now in opposition. The move came after the newspaper carried reports of illegal activities by Awami League members.
