Bangladesh

(MW/IFEX) – Two newspaper offices in Dhaka were attacked by a group of angry political worker on 7 November 1998. The group attacked the daily “Ittefaq” office and tried to enter the premises but failed. When the security guard closed the gate, the group threw stones, breaking windows and hitting the reporting room of the […]

(WiPC/IFEX) – The Bangladesh “Janakantha” daily newspaper writes that during a press conference held in Dhaka on Monday 5 October 1998, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad told journalists that the case of Taslima Nasrin “should be considered from an humanitarian angle.” He went on to say “On the one hand, the religious sentiment of […]

(RSF/IFEX) – According to information obtained by RSF, on 14 September 1998, Taslima Nasrin returned to Bangladesh after more that four years in exile to visit her mother who has colon cancer. Upon her return to Bangladesh, news reports say several Muslim religious leaders have asked for her immediate arrest and trial. They accuse her […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following letter, sent by CPJ on 1 September 1998 to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, provides further details on the “Daily Runner” newspaper and on possible motives for the killing of journalist Saiful Alam Mukul. **Further to IFEX alerts of 1 September and 31 August 1998** “Your Excellency: “The Committee to Protect […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The following provides further information to the alert of 31 August. According to RSF’s information, on 30 August, Shaiful Alam Mukul, editor of “Dainik Runner” (or “Daily Runner”), was shot dead by unknown assaillants as he was coming back home on his three-wheeler rickshaw. The journalist was immediately taken to Jessore hospital where […]

(Media Watch/IFEX)- Saiful Alam Mukul, editor of the “Daily Runner”, was killed by some gunmen on the night of 30 August 1998 in Jessore, a south eastern district town in Bangladesh. Police and hospital sources confirmed the news. The deputy commissioner of Jessore said Saiful Alam Mukul was returning to his Bejpara residence when the […]

(MW/IFEX) – According to Media Watch, on 12 August 1998, the vice-chancellor of Dhaka University and the President and Secretary of the Chattra League went to the Dhaka University Journalists’ Association office, where the vice-chancellor assured the journalists that they would receive full protection from university authorities to perform their professional duties without incident. The […]

(MW/IFEX) – According to Media Watch, on 13 August 1998, the Foreign Ministry officially withdrew its order denying journalists entry onto the Ministry’s premises. In a formal meeting with the Diplomatic Correspondent Association of Bangladesh, Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad announced the withdrawal of the order and declared his full support for the journalists and […]

(MW/IFEX) – On 10 August 1998, two Bangladeshi journalists received death threats on the campus of Dhaka University (in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh). Kailash Sarker, university correspondent for the daily “Sangbad”, and a correspondent for the daily “Janakantha”, surname Mamun, were threatened with death by a top-ranking leader of the Chattra league, the […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 5 August 1998, Dipak Chowdhury, a reporter for “Dainik Muktakantha”, was assaulted in Dhaka by a police constable just after entering the Bangladesh Secretariat that houses different government ministries. The policeman threw the journalist’s press card away before hitting him on the head several times. Other journalists who were on professional assignment […]

(MW/IFEX) – On 26 July, 1998, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry issued an order denying any journalist entry onto the Ministry’s premises. After a meeting of the top-ranking officers of the Ministry, it was decided that no officer of the Ministry will talk to any journalist regarding their professional requests. The Ministry also ignored the journalists’ […]

(RSF/IFEX) – According to information made available by RSF on 2 June 1998, during the night of 26 May, hoodlums carrying firearms and sticks raided “Dainik Manab Zamin”, a tabloid newspaper published in Dhaka. They attacked the staff and, brandishing handguns, demanded to be taken to see editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury. Nearly 30 armed persons […]

(RSF/IFEX) – According to information released by RSF on 22 April 1998, publisher Absar Uddin Chowdhury and news editor Mamunur Rashid, both working for “Dainik Karnaphulli”, were arrested without warrant on 20 April 1998 by police in Chittagong (in southeastern Bangladesh). On the same day, Mofizur Rahman, publisher of “Comilla Barta”, was arrested in Comilla […]

(RSF/IFEX) – According to RSF, Alam Raihan, editor of the weekly “Sugandha”, was arrested by detectives on 18 March 1998. The detectives came to his home at night and took him to the police station. The journalist has been charged with publishing “indecent and defamatory news items that confused and tarnished the image of the […]

In the past month, a series of attacks on the media has caused the state of press freedom in Bangladesh to worsen. On 18 September 1996, S.M.Shamsul Alam, a correspondent with “Ajker Kagoj” in Rangamanti and a stringer for the Voice of America, and Shiek Mohammad Illias, a correspondent with “Dainik Al Mujadded”, were attacked […]

On 5 June 1996, a group of about 100 men attacked the local office in Chittagong of the daily “Janakantha” after the newspaper had reported, while the case was still pending, that the nomination of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidate Amir Kushru had been cancelled by a Division Bench of the High Court on the […]