(Media Watch/IFEX) – On the evening of 16 July 2000, Shamsur Rahman Kebol, a special correspondent with the daily “Janakantha”, was shot dead in Jessore, a district town on Bangladesh’s south-western border. Local sources said that at 8:00 p.m. (local time), as the journalist was working at his office in the centre of Jessore, two […]
(Media Watch/IFEX) – On the evening of 16 July 2000, Shamsur Rahman Kebol, a special correspondent with the daily “Janakantha”, was shot dead in Jessore, a district town on Bangladesh’s south-western border. Local sources said that at 8:00 p.m. (local time), as the journalist was working at his office in the centre of Jessore, two unidentified men entered his office and fired two bullets at him. One bullet hit his heart and another his head. He was alone in his office at the time. After hearing the gunshots, people rushed to his room and found him laying in his chair in a pool of blood. His body was rushed to Jessore general hospital where doctors declared him dead.
Two years ago, editor Saiful Alam Mukul was shot dead in the same city (see IFEX alerts of 2 and 1 September and 31 August 1998). Shamsur Rahman Kebol was one of Bangladesh’s senior journalists. He earned his reputation as an expert on Indian politics. He had a thorough knowledge of the smugglers’ syndicate active on the border with India. He investigated the extremist politics of the region, filed many stories for his paper and was the leader and an activist of the Jessore Union of Journalists (JUJ). The government recently ran a combing operation against extremist groups in the south-western part of the country. Shamsur Rahman Kebol received several death threats from the smugglers’ group as well as from extreme leftist groups. The home affairs minister condemned this tragic death and ordered local police to start an investigation leading to the arrest of the journalist’s killers.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– condemning the journalist’s murder
– asking them to ensure that journalists can safely work in the country
– demanding the immediate launch of an inquiry leading to the arrest and punishment of those responsible for the killing
-asking for special protection for journalists and newspaper offices
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina
Prime Minister, People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Prime Minister
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Fax: +880 2 811 3244Mohd. Nasim
Minister of Home Affairs
People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Fax: +880 2 861 9667 / 861 4788Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
