New York, March 14, 2005—Three journalists in the southeastern city of Chittagong received letters containing death threats from a group identifying itself as the student wing of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami Party. Journalists Sumi Khan, Samaresh Baidya, and Jubayer Siddiqui each received similar letters within three days of one another, Baidya told CPJ. “Threats against journalists…
Overviewby Abi Wright Threats to press freedom spiked throughout Asia in 2004, even as the news media claimed significant accomplishments. Across the region, 2004 was an election year, with citizens casting ballots in nations such as Afghanistan, whose landmark vote was peaceful and orderly, and India, where more than 370 million went to the polls.…
BangladeshThe Bangladeshi press endured another volatile and violent year in 2004, with three journalists murdered in retaliation for their work, scores of death threats from extremist groups, and routine harassment and physical attacks. A CPJ delegation that conducted a fact-finding and advocacy mission to the country in March concluded that Bangladesh was the most dangerous…
MARCH 4, 2005 Posted: April 1, 2005 Andoloner BazarTHREATENED The entire 25-member staff of the Kushtia-based daily Andoloner Bazar filed a memorandum with the district deputy commissioner of police seeking protection on March 15. The editor, Manjur Ehsan Chowdhury, signed the memo in which the journalists claimed that they have been harassed and under constant…
New York, February 22, 2005—The Bangladesh Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has issued a “charge sheet” against Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor and publisher of the tabloid weekly Blitz, a critical step in bringing the journalist to trial on sedition and anti-state allegations that could lead to the death penalty. The charge sheet discloses details of…
FEBRUARY 11, 2005 Posted: February 14, 2005 Sheikh Belaluddin, Sangram KILLED—CONFIRMED Belaluddin, a correspondent with the Bengali-language daily Sangram, died at around 10 a.m. of injuries sustained in a bomb attack on February 5. The bomb exploded at a press club in the city of Khulna. The bomb, which was hidden in a bag hanging…
New York, February 11, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the death of Bangladeshi journalist Sheikh Belaluddin, who died at around 10 a.m. today of injuries sustained in a bomb attack last week. Belaluddin, a correspondent with the Bengali-language daily Sangram, was injured along with three other journalists on February 5, when a bomb exploded…
FEBRUARY 3, 2005 Posted April 1, 2005 Shafiul Haque Mithu, Janakantha THREATENED Mithu, the local correspondent for the Bangla-language daily Janakantha in the southwestern town of Priojpur, received anonymous threats over his cell phone on February 3 and 4, according to reports in Janakantha and the popular daily Prothom Alo. Mithu filed a report with…