The International Press Institute (IPI) on Tuesday expressed concern over the state of press freedom in Bangladesh following the arrest of magazine editor Shafik Rehman on the heels of the murder of another “secular blogger by extremists earlier this month.”
Authorities on Saturday arrested Shafik Rehman, editor of popular Bengali monthly magazine Mouchake Dhil, on accusations that he was linked to an alleged plot to abduct and kill the son of prime minister Sheikh Hasina in the United States.
According to an IPI release, “Shafik, the former editor of mass-circulation Bengali daily Jai Jai Din and an adviser to opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP) leader Khaleda Zia, is the third pro-opposition editor arrested in Bangladesh since 2013.”
“Recent developments show an ever-more-chilling environment for journalists in Bangladesh, with those who give voice to political opposition facing imprisonment, while those who criticise extremism face death in one of the most brutal manners possible,” said IPI director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis.
“In the case of Rehman, we call on the government to publicly share any evidence that would show he was engaged in criminal activity, or to release him immediately and drop these charges.
We also urge the government to bring those who are slaughtering journalists and others to justice in order to demonstrate that they will not enjoy impunity, and to do more to protect journalists and others who have been threatened.”
The IPI release said Shafik’s arrest has been met with criticism by media outlets and the BNP. “Zia claimed that the case against Rehman is politically motivated and he called for the journalist’s immediate and unconditional release.”
It said the charges are similar to those lodged against Mahfuz Anam, editor of the English-language newspaper The Daily Star.
In a television interview in February, Anam voiced regret for a series of stories in 2007 that reported allegations of corruption against Hasina that were later shown to be untrue.
Shortly after that acknowledgment, the IPI said, Anam faced a storm of criticism online and Hasina’s son demanded that he be charged with treason. “Anam currently faces charges on 62 counts of defamation and 17 counts of sedition, and could face up to 175 years in prison if convicted.”
The IPI also mentioned, “Matiur Rahman, the editor of Bangladesh’s most-widely read Bengali newspaper, Prothom Alo, The Daily Star’s sister publication, reportedly faces some 25 defamation charges, and the BBC has reported that both newspapers have been the target of “a clandestine attempt to undermine their finances and stifle their operations”.”
The voiced concerns, “Saturday’s arrest of Rehman came just nine days after the latest in a series of deadly attacks on secular bloggers and others by Islamic extremists.”
On 7 April, three people attacked law student and secular activist Nazimuddin Samad, hacking him with machetes before shooting him in the head at point-blank range.
Source: Prothom Alo
