CPJ urges interim government to protect press freedom

  • Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Photo: Collected

Photo: Collected

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international organization working to protect journalists, has called for the protection of press freedom in Bangladesh.

The call was made in an email sent to the interim government's chief adviser, Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, on Monday (November 11). The letter, sent by CPJ CEO Jody Ginsburg, was published on the organization's website.

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The letter said that on November 4, the interim government's Ministry of Information announced that the Cyber Security Act would be repealed within a week. The law was passed in 2023 and replaced by the Digital Security Act, which was repeatedly used to crack down on journalists under the previous government. Currently, dozens of journalists, believed to be supporters of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her ousted party, the Awami League, are facing police investigations in apparent retaliation. In late October and early November, the interim government’s Ministry of Information revoked the press accreditation of several of these journalists, four of whom remain in prison.

In the letter, CPJ called on the interim government to take steps within its constitutional powers to protect journalism and freedom of expression.

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This includes imposing an immediate moratorium on repressive laws, including criminal defamation cases under the Penal Code and the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, 1923, which undermine Bangladesh’s constitutional obligations to protect freedom of expression and press freedom.

We also welcome the interim government’s recent announcement that the Cyber Security Act 2023 will be repealed. CPJ has documented the widespread use of the Digital Security Act, 2018, the predecessor to the Cyber security Act, as well as the Criminal Defamation Act and the Official Secrets Act, to arrest and subject independent journalists to prolonged harassment.

The letter calls for the withdrawal or dismissal of hundreds of criminal cases filed against journalists during the Awami League government. It says these include cases under the repealed Section 57 of the Information and Communications Technology Act, 2006.

The letter mentions photojournalist and CPJ 2020 International Press Freedom Award winner Shahidul Alam and reporter Palash Kumar Dey (also known as Pranta Palash) among the ICT Act cases filed during the previous government.