Bangladesh

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is an 11 December 2003 CPJ letter to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia: December 11, 2003 Her Excellency Khaleda Zia Prime Minister, People’s Republic of Bangladesh Office of the Prime Minister Dhaka, Bangladesh Via Facsimile: 011-880-1-811-3244 Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by an ongoing series of attacks […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed shock over a campaign of violence and intimidation led by members of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) against journalists in the southern districts of Jhalakathi and Barisal. The organisation said it had registered 10 physical attacks on journalists, two attacks against newspapers, 10 complaints against journalists and four threats […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has voiced its dismay over the arrest of magazine editor Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury. Choudhury was arrested in Dakha on 29 November 2003 as he was about to leave for Israel to take part in a symposium. He is accused of spying for Israel on the basis of the text of a […]

(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 […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 12 November 2003 CPJ press release: BANGLADESH: Journalist released on bail New York, November 12, 2003-Selim Jahangir, a photojournalist for the national Bengali-language daily Janakantha, was released from the Rajshahi Central Jail in northwestern Bangladesh on November 10 after being held 10 days and denied bail. According to local […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 12 November 2003 CPJ press release: BANGLADESH: Journalists attacked New York, November 12, 2003-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is investigating the motives behind a bomb attack on five journalists in Feni in southeastern Bangladesh on November 10. Police suspect that the assailants targeted one of the journalists, Bakhtiar […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has protested the arrest of Selim Jahangir, a photographer with the national daily “Janakantha”, for taking pictures at a police checkpoint in the northeastern city of Rajshahi and supposedly “endangering” the life of a judge involved in the operation. “This is a simple abuse of authority,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard in […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 30 September 2003 CPJ press release: BANGLADESH: Journalist freed from jail, charges dropped New York, September 30, 2003-Hiramon Mondol, a local correspondent for the daily Dainik Prabarttan, was released from jail and exonerated from extortion charges on September 20 by the Magistrate of the Special Tribunal Act in Khulna, […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed concern over proposed changes to the 2001 Bangladesh Telecommunications Act, which would tighten control over e-mail traffic, legalise invasion of privacy and undermine free expression. The proposed changes would also permit evidence based on e-mail interception to be used in court. “Respect for confidentiality of personal information obtained from Internet […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has deplored the manhandling of several photographers and a reporter by pro-government lawyers at a court house in the capital, Dhaka, on 6 September 2003. The organisation is greatly concerned about growing violence against journalists in the country. The photographers were taking pictures of a brawl between lawyers supporting the ruling Bangladesh […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 5 September 2003 letter to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, CPJ condemned the brutal assault and arrest of Hiramon Mondol, a local correspondent for the daily “Dainik Prabarttan” in the southwestern town of Khulna, and called for his immediate release from jail. According to CPJ, this case is emblematic of the risks […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 26 August 2003 CPJ press release: BANGLADESH: Journalist brutally attacked and imprisoned New York, August 26, 2003-Earlier this month, Hiramon Mondol, a correspondent for the daily Dainik Prabarttan, in Khulna, a town in southwestern Bangladesh was brutally assaulted by the police before being taken into custody, and jailed on […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has written to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, calling for the immediate release of journalist Hiramon Mondol, who was viciously assaulted by police officers in the southwestern city of Khulna on 8 August 2003. He has since been held in the Khulna prison infirmary. The organisation also called for the dismissal of the […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 4 August 2003 CPJ open letter to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia: August 4, 2003 Her Excellency Khaleda Zia Prime Minister, People’s Republic of Bangladesh Office of the Prime Minister Dhaka, Bangladesh Via Facsimile: 011-880-1-811-3244 Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent attacks against Hasan Jahid […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 30 July 2003, RSF called on the governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh to lift the bans they have imposed on the latest issue of the American news magazine “Newsweek”, because of an article about a German academic’s research into the origins of the Koran. “Repeated bans on international magazines on account of […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 23 July 2003 open letter to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, CPJ expressed alarm over a series of recent threats and attacks against journalists in Bangladesh and urged her government to take immediate action to ensure that these crimes are prosecuted vigorously. On 20 July, members of a criminal gang in the […]