RSF concerned about safety of journalists in Bangladesh
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international organization working for free journalism and journalist freedom, has expressed concern over the recent increase in attacks on media workers in Bangladesh. They say that since the beginning of February, there has been an increase in serious attacks on journalists, including beatings with sticks and hammers, and attacks on newsrooms. They made these statements in a report published on the RSF website last Friday.
The organization said that police officers and political activists are mainly carrying out these attacks. They called on the authorities to bring each perpetrator to justice and ensure the safety of journalists. Celia Mercier, head of the RSF South Asia desk, said that while there was hope for an improvement in the media environment after the interim government took power in August 2024, the safety of journalists remained uncertain.
She said, “The series of attacks on journalists in recent days indicates a worrying increase in violence against the media. They are being attacked while reporting, physically retaliated against for their writing, and protesters are attacking their newsrooms.’
The report cites several examples, ranging from attacks demanding the deletion of published reports to politically motivated attacks and police attacks to obstruct journalists’ work.
The RSF report says that journalists are facing obstacles while reporting from the field. For example, on February 5, around 20 supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) attacked ATN News’ Javed Akhter on the Supreme Court premises. NTV’s Hasan Javed and Deepto TV’s Azizul Islam Pannu were also attacked when they came to Akhter’s aid. The journalists were covering the verdict in a case related to the attack on a train carrying former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 1994.
A day later, Mohammad Omar Faruk of Independent24 TV, Syed Mainul Ahsan Maruf of Ekattor TV and other journalists were attacked by protesters. They were covering the demolition of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s house and memorial museum on Road 32 in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. The police did not intervene, RSF said.
The organization also reported that on February 9, six journalists were attacked – this time by police. Kawsar Ahmed Ripon of The Report Live, Asif-uz Zaman and Muhammad Mahadi of Kaler Kantho, Azhar Rakib of Bangladesh Pratidin, Mohammad Radwan of Jago News and Shimul Khan of Breaking News were beaten with sticks, punched and kicked by police. The injured journalists said that the police attacked them deliberately despite showing their press cards.
RSF reports that several journalists in Shariatpur, outside Dhaka, have faced brutal reprisals for their work. On February 3, Samakal correspondent Sohag Khan was attacked with hammers and knives by the brother of the clinic owner and his associates for reporting on the negligence of a clinic. Three other journalists – Bidhan Majumder Oni of News24 TV, Nayan Das of Bangla TV and Shafiul Islam Akash of Desh TV – were also attacked by the assailants when they came to the aid of a colleague.
“RSF calls on the authorities to stop this unacceptable cycle of violence, ensure the safety of media professionals, and bring those responsible for the attack to justice,” said Celia Mercier.
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