Five organisations write to Hasina on press freedom violations in pandemic

Five Bangladeshi and international organisations that defend the freedom to inform have written to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asking her to take concrete action to guarantee journalistic freedom in the face of an alarming surge in physical and judicial attacks on reporters and cartoonists in connection with the COVID-19 crisis.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 5 June 2020, 03:48 AM
Updated : 5 June 2020, 04:30 AM

The organisations are -- Cartoonists Rights Network International or CRNI, Reporters Without Borders or RSF, Forum for Freedom of Expression, Bangladesh or FExB, Ain O Shalish Kendra or ASK and Cartooning For Peace or CFP.

The letter was published on the Reporters Without Borders website on Wednesday.

Though the Bangladesh government claims to ‘firmly believe in freedom of the press,’ it is being violated, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, the letter said. 

“During the month of May alone, at least 16 journalists and bloggers were charged under the 2018 Digital Security Act. They include the cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, who was arrested on 6 May by the Rapid Action Battalion, your country’s counter-terrorism agency. His only act of “terrorism” was to have published a series of cartoons of politicians entitled “Life in the Time of Corona.” He is still detained and is facing a possible life sentence,” reads the letter.

“Most of the other journalists being prosecuted under this law simply reported information that annoyed local politicians.”

The letter also mentioned that since the start of the lockdown in the country, at least 13 journalists have been the targets of violence, which in some cases caused serious injuries.

These journalists were subjected to violence for investigating cases of corruption among district officials responsible for distributing humanitarian supplies, it said.

During the current “infodemic of misinformation,” as the United Nations has called it, Bangladeshi journalists are working at the frontline to provide the citizens with reliable and independently-reported information.

It is ‘intolerable’ that journalists are being subjected to violence and harassment in this manner, the five organisations wrote.

Under the present circumstances, the five Bangladeshi and international organisations that defend press freedom urged the prime minister to ensure that physical attacks against reporters do not go unpunished, abusive prosecutions of journalists, bloggers and cartoonists under the Digital Security Act are dropped and also to amend the Digital Security Act while drafting a law on protecting journalists.