The U.N. Human Rights Commission and international watchdogs are calling on Bangladesh’s interim government to allow media to work without fear of attack, and to ensure accountability for attacks on journalists.
During the mass protest movement in Bangladesh that drove former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from office on August 5, dozens of journalists were injured and at least five killed.
Journalists were beaten, forced to delete images from their cameras, and struck by pellets fired by police while reporting on the unrest that started in June and intensified in July. Reporters say they are still receiving threats amid continuing unrest between competing pro- and anti-Hasina factions.
What started as rallies opposing a court ruling reserving 30% of government jobs for descendants of veterans of the nation’s independence war escalated to demands for an end to corruption, political repression and economic inequality.
Hundreds were killed in clashes between the police and protesters, according to a preliminary report by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
Hasina, who had been in power for 15 years, resigned from her role as prime minister and fled to India on August 5. Economist and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been appointed to lead an interim administration.
“Bangladesh's interim government must prioritize press freedom and do all it can to prioritize journalists' safety,” Beh Lih Yi, Asia Program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists, told VOA via email. “This includes implementing a transparent and independent justice mechanism to hold all attacks on the media to account.”
The U.N. report also called on the interim government to ensure accountability for injuries and deaths. It noted that the media need to be able to work “safely without intimidation or reprisals.”
During the unrest, five journalists were killed in separate incidents, including when police fired on protesters.
On July 18, police shot and killed Hasan Mehedi, a journalist for Dhaka Times, in the Jatrabari district of Dhaka. The following day, Shakil Hossain, a correspondent for Bhorer Awaj newspaper, and Abu Taher Md Turab, a reporter for the Daily Naya Diganta newspaper, were both shot dead in the city of Sylhet.
On August 2, Tahir Zaman Priyo, a freelance video journalist who contributed to outlets including The Report 24, was shot in the head in Dhaka. A few days later on August 5, reporter Pradeep Kumar Bhowmik of the Daily Khabarpatra was killed in the city of Sirajganj.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay called for a “swift investigation” into the media killings.
“Journalists covering events of public interest provide critical information to the population and must do so without fearing for their safety. I call on authorities to hold those responsible to account,” Azoulay said in a statement.
Media watchdogs are documenting dozens of cases of journalists being injured by police and protesters.
Jibon Ahmed, a photojournalist for the Dainik Manabzamin newspaper, told VOA he was injured when police fired in his direction while he was covering protests in the Rampura region of Dhaka last month.
“There was a three-way conflict between the protesting BRAC University students, the police and the leaders and activists of the [then] ruling party, Awami League. Some of us journalists got caught between the clashes,” he said.
Ahmed said the media workers sheltered at a nearby temple, but police came toward them firing pellet guns.
“We held up the journalist ID cards and cameras. Three of us suffered pellet injuries, and 14 pellets hit my camera bag,” he said.
Marina Mitu, a reporter for news website Shokal Shondha, said she was also injured after being caught in a clash between protesters and the Bangladesh Chhatra League, a student group aligned with Hasina’s Awami League party.
“At one point, a piece of brick thrown by the protesters aimed at the Bangladesh Chhatra League hit my leg,” she told VOA.
When Mitu went to a hospital for treatment, Chhatra League leaders hit her with bamboo sticks, she said, adding that she had shown her press card before the attack.
Sajjad Hossain, a photojournalist at the Bangla Tribune newspaper, said he was attacked by students in Dhaka.
“After the police and Chhatra League activists left the area, the students vandalized the traffic signal lights and police boxes in the area,” he told VOA.
As Hossain took photos of the students, one spotted him and “hit me from behind with a spear.” The journalist said other protesters deleted the picture from his camera and started hitting him with bamboo sticks.
Attacks on media continued even after the interim government took control.
On August 14, unidentified attackers broke into the Chittagong press club and injured about 20 reporters. One day earlier, the president of the Raipura Upazila Reporters Club, Moniruzzaman Monir, was attacked with a hammer by unidentified assailants in the Srirampur Bazar of Upazila.
International media watchdogs have condemned the attacks.
The Vienna-based International Press Institute, or IPI, reports that the violence directed at the media reflects the hostility journalists in Bangladesh have long faced.
An IPI monitoring report from October 2022 to March 2023, found the media in Bangladesh are regularly attacked or threatened, or face legal harassment.
VOA's Bangla Service contributed to this report.
