PEN International asks govt to swiftly try brutal killings of secular Bangladesh bloggers

Several writers and PEN members have urged Bangladesh government to “swiftly and impartially” investigate brutal killings of secular bloggers.

They urged it to bring the perpetrators to justice in accordance with international fair trial standards.

PEN International is the world’s leading association of writers, working to defend freedom of expression around the world.
 
Over hundred prominent writers and journalists from around the world condemned the horrific deaths of their colleagues Ananta Bijoy Das, Oyasiqur Rahman Babu and Avijit Roy.
 
The three secular bloggers have been brutally murdered on the streets of Bangladesh in the last three months.
 
“We urge Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina) and her government to do all in their power to ensure that the tragic events of the last three months are not repeated, and to bring the perpetrators to justice,” the joint statement said.

The group of writers and journalists also demanded of the Bangladesh government to provide protection and support to bloggers and other writers at risk in Bangladesh, in accordance with Bangladesh’s obligations under national and international law.
 
Thirty two-year-old Das was hacked to death on his way to work by a masked gang in Sylhet on May 12.
 
Just months earlier, on Feb 26, another secular blogger Avijit Roy, was similarly killed.
 
A month later, on Mar 29, blogger Oyasiqur Rahman Babu was murdered just 500 yards from his home in Begunbarhi, Dhaka.
 
“At least three other writers have been attacked or murdered in Bangladesh since 2013 and, although there have been several arrests, no one has been held to account for any of these attacks,” the writers observed in the statement.
 
Taking serious note of the incidents, they expressed grave concern over the escalating pattern of violence against writers and journalists, who are peacefully expressing their views.
 
They pointed out freedom of expression was a fundamental right under Bangladesh’s constitution and under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
 
The statement was signed among others by Salman Rushdie, Elisabeth Abendroth, María Cecilia Barbetta, Antonio Della Rocca, Meghnad Desai, John Elliott and Amitav Ghosh.