Bangladeshi journalist arrested for reporting death of goat
New York, August 1, 2017–Bangladeshi authorities should drop all charges against Abdul Latif Morol and should release him without delay, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police in Dumaria, roughly 200 kilometers (124 miles) southwest of Dhaka, yesterday arrested the journalist on defamation charges after he wrote on Facebook that a goat had died.
Bangladeshi embassies told to monitor journalists traveling abroad
Washington, D.C., May 19, 2017–The Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry should immediately and publicly rescind its instructions to the country’s embassies to monitor journalists traveling abroad, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Bangladeshi journalist fatally shot covering street battles
Washington, D.C., February 3, 2017–Bangladeshi authorities should vigorously investigate and bring to justice those responsible for killing Abdul Hakim Shimul, a journalist for the daily Samakal newspaper, who died today from gunshot wounds sustained while covering political unrest yesterday, according to news reports.
Turkey’s crackdown propels number of journalists in jail worldwide to record high
At least 81 journalists are imprisoned in Turkey, all of them facing anti-state charges, in the wake of an unprecedented crackdown that has included the shuttering of more than 100 news outlets. The 259 journalists in jail worldwide is the highest number recorded since 1990. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
Getting Away With Murder
CPJ’s 2016 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and the killers go free By Elisabeth Witchel, CPJ Impunity Campaign Consultant Published October 27, 2016. Some of the highest rates of impunity in the murders of journalists can be attributed to killings by Islamist militant groups, CPJ found in its latest Global Impunity…
Journalist detained over criminal defamation complaint in Bangladesh
Bangkok, September 6, 2016–Bangladeshi journalist Siddiqur Rahman Khan has been detained since September 1 after a criminal defamation complaint was filed against him under Article 57 of the 2006 Information and Communication Technology Act, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists called today for Khan’s immediate release and an end to the use…
Proposed cyber-security bill threatens media freedom in Bangladesh
Bangkok, August 24, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists called today on Bangladesh’s legislature to scrap proposed cyber-security legislation that would impose severe penalties for disseminating online material deemed to be anti-state or a threat to national security or public order. The Digital Security Act 2016 was approved on August 22 by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s…
Bangladesh journalists could face 14 years in prison for refuting rumor
New York, August 12, 2016 — Bangladeshi authorities should drop all criminal proceedings against three journalists from the news website banglamail24, release them immediately, and restore press credentials to nine of their colleagues, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The three journalists could face a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison if charged…
Bangladesh arrests suspect in attack on publisher, jails second publisher
New York, June 16, 2016 — The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes reports of the arrest of a suspected member of a banned Islamist group accused of participating in an October 2015 attack on a publishing house. The arrest of Mohammed Sumon Hossain came amid a broader sweep of thousands of suspected criminals across Bangladesh,…
Bangladesh should take urgent steps to protect freedom of expression
The U.N. Human Rights Council will convene in Geneva for its next session today. Ahead of this meeting, international groups working on press freedom and freedom of expression, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, made a joint submission to the council calling for urgent and concrete steps to reverse the deteriorating climate for free expression…