(WAN/IFEX) – In a 19 April 2005 letter to Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, WAN and the World Editors Forum (WEF) expressed serious concern over the apparent impunity enjoyed by the murderers of journalist Kamal Hossein. On 22 August 2004, Hossein, a correspondent for the daily newspaper “Ajker Kagoj” and secretary general of the Manikchhari […]
(WAN/IFEX) – In a 19 April 2005 letter to Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, WAN and the World Editors Forum (WEF) expressed serious concern over the apparent impunity enjoyed by the murderers of journalist Kamal Hossein.
On 22 August 2004, Hossein, a correspondent for the daily newspaper “Ajker Kagoj” and secretary general of the Manikchhari press club, was taken from his home by armed men in the city of Manikchhari, eastern Chittagong District. According to reports, armed men broke into his home early in the morning. Hossein hid from his attackers, but gave himself up after they threatened to kill his two-year-old son. His body was found two kilometres from his home several hours later. Hossein had reportedly received death threats for investigating organised crime in the area and, days before he was killed, had helped police identify several members of a gang.
WAN and WEF noted that nine months after Hossein’s death, no one has been arrested in connection with his murder. The organisations are concerned that little progress has been made in the investigation. “Not only is the failure to identify his killers an insult to the memory of Hossein and to his family, it sends a chilling signal to others in Bangladesh that journalists may be murdered with impunity,” WAN and WEF noted.
