Bangladesh

**New cases and update to IFEX alerts of 15 and 14 December 1999** (WAN/IFEX) – The following is a WAN press release: Paris, 23 December 1999 For immediate release WAN Protests Press Attacks in Bangladesh The World Association of Newspapers has asked Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed to take action against the numerous assaults […]

In a 14 December 1999 letter to Bangladeshi Home Affairs Minister Mohammed Nasim, RSF strongly protested against further assaults on journalists. RSF said it was deeply worried that the government was “unable or unwilling to put a stop to this outbreak of violence, which is extremely prejudicial to press freedom.” RSF reminded the minister that […]

(Media Watch/IFEX) – On 12 December 1999, at least fifteen journalists were attacked by opposition party activists and injured in the port city of Chittagong. Two journalists were hospitalised and the other thirteen were released from hospital after receiving treatment for their injuries. The journalists had gathered at Laldighi Maidan in the afternoon of 12 […]

In a 7 December 1999 letter to Information Minister Abu Sayeed, RSF protested the suspension of the newspaper “Weekly Evidence”, published in Dhaka. Reminding him that the suspension was in contradiction to the United Nations’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, RSF asked that the newspaper be allowed to resume publication as soon as […]

In a 12 November 1999 letter to Bangladeshi Home Affairs Minister Mohammed Nasim, RSF protested an attack on a photographer. He was the third journalist injured by riot police this past week. RSF asked Nasim to enforce the law and to control the police’s behaviour. RSF also reminded him that “it is the duty of […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a 27 October 1999 letter, RSF asked Bangladeshi Home Affairs Minister Mohammed Nasim to ensure that journalists and media workers can cover meetings and demonstrations safely. The organisation was protesting against attacks carried out by policemen and political activists on at least fifteen journalists on duty between 21 and 23 October. RSF […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a 27 October 1999 letter to Bangladeshi Home Affairs Minister Mohammed Nasim, RSF protested the attacks carried out by policemen and political activists against at least fifteen journalists on duty. RSF asked him “to punish those responsible for the attacks and to ask riot police and political parties to respect the right […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply disturbed by the latest brutal assault on photojournalists committed by the Dhaka police. On Friday 22 October 1999, riot police were dispatched to subdue a demonstration held in the capital by Islamic activists. The police turned their batons on two newspaper photographers who were documenting their treatment of the protesters. […]

(Media Watch/IFEX) – The office of a daily was attacked during a demonstration by the main opposition political party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), held on the evening of Monday 30 August 1999. At least thirty people, including fourteen employees of the “Daily Janakantha”, were injured, two of them critically when dozens of gunshots were […]

(Media Watch/IFEX) – Unknown terrorists have threatened to blow up the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Dhaka office. On 25 August 1999, an unidentified man contacted the BBC Dhaka office by telephone and ordered the staff to stop broadcasting news on recent developments in the conflict between India and Bangladesh. He threatened that, if his order […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In an 18 August 1999 letter to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, RSF protested the issuing of arrest warrants against three journalists. RSF pointed out that “in a document dated 14 July 1992, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights emphasised that ‘detention as punishment for the expression of an opinion is one […]

(Media Watch/IFEX) – Religious extremists identifying themselves as Talebans (followers of the Islamic extremist group which rules Afghanistan) reportedly threatened to kill sculptor Shamim Sikder. A letter signed by the commander of the Taleban Bahini stated that Shamim Sikder, an associate professor of the Department of Sculpture of the Institute of the Fine Arts (IFA) […]

(Media Watch/IFEX) – In Bangladesh, journalists, especially photojournalists, have again become the targets of the police. During the general strike, held all over the country on 11 May 1999, at least thirteen journalists were injured when police attacked them. The strike was called by the country’s main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and […]

(Media Watch/IFEX) – The Bangladesh Press Council has introduced a twenty-two-clause revised code of conduct for journalists, newspapers and news agencies prohibiting any campaign against the liberation war or communal harmony. “The spirit and ideals of the independence and the liberation war must be upheld and there could be no campaigns against the spirit,” states […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is protesting attacks carried out against several journalists in Bangladesh this month. According to RSF’s information, during the three-day nationwide strike called by mainstream opposition parties from 23 to 25 February 1999, at least six journalists were assaulted. On 24 February, Abdus Samad Jewel, a photographer with “Dainik Janakantha”, and Shorab Alam, […]

(Media Watch/IFEX) – According to a “Daily Star” report, a political debate focusing on the upcoming municipal election, originally scheduled to have been televised on 11 February 1999, was abruptly cancelled due to a last minute intervention by the Ministry of Information. The report states that the current affairs programme AEI SOMOY was scheduled to […]