CPJ demands 'swift' Avijit probe

US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has blamed the murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy on a 'culture of impunity' persisting in Bangladesh and called for a swift and effective probe to bring the murderers to justice.

Bangladeshi authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate the Thursday murder of Avijit and ensure the perpetrators are held to account, the CPJ said in a statement on Friday.

Avijit had regularly criticised religious fundamentalism on his blog and had covered secular topics, including free expression.

"We call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government to leave no stone unturned in investigating and prosecuting the attack on Avijit Roy and Rafida Ahmed Bonya," said CPJ Asia Programme Coordinator Bob Dietz in New York.

"This attack is emblematic of the culture of impunity that pervades Bangladesh, where the lack of accountability in previous attacks on the press continues to spurn a deadly cycle of violence."

Bloggers and commentators covering religious issues in Bangladesh have been at risk in recent years, according to CPJ research.

In 2013, Islamist groups called for the execution of bloggers they said had committed blasphemy, according to news reports quoted by CPJ.

In February of the same year, blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider, who had covered Islamic fundamentalism and Islamist groups, was hacked to death by members of an Islamist militant group. But CPJ says no one was convicted for the murder.

The month before, blogger Asif Mohiuddin, who had written critical commentary on religion, Islamist groups, free speech, and human rights, was stabbed by Islamists. He survived the attack. Again, says the CPJ, no one has been held responsible so far.

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Avijit, a naturalised US citizen of Bangladeshi origin, was visiting Dhaka to attend the Amar Ekushey Book Fair, where two of his new books were launched.

He and his wife blogger Bonya were hacked by unidentified miscreants near Dhaka University’s TSC on Thursday night.

He died at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital soon after he was rushed there.

Bonya was seriously injured and it currently undergoing treatment at the Square Hospital in Dhaka.

Avijit had covered secular issues including science, homosexuality, atheism, and free expression on his blog, Mukto-Mona (Free Mind), and had published several books on those issues, the CPJ statement said.

The blogger had reported receiving death threats from Islamists to his friends and family and to the UK-based human rights organisation, the International Humanist and Ethical Union, CPJ said.

The blogger's father, Ajay Roy told journalists that Avijit had received threatening messages over email and on social media from individuals who were unhappy with his writing, said the CPJ statement.

Police said they were investigating the attack, but have neither named nor detained any suspects so far.