(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 12 July 2002 letter to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, CPJ requested information about the status of the police investigation into the alleged kidnapping of Shukur Hossain, crime reporter for the Khulna-based newspaper “Anirban”. Hossain, who has been missing since 5 July, is feared dead. At around midnight (local time) on 5 […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 12 July 2002 letter to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, CPJ requested information about the status of the police investigation into the alleged kidnapping of Shukur Hossain, crime reporter for the Khulna-based newspaper “Anirban”. Hossain, who has been missing since 5 July, is feared dead.
At around midnight (local time) on 5 July, a group of about 35 armed men kidnapped Hossain from his home in Ula, a village near the town of Dumuria in Khulna District. Police suspect the assailants belong to the outlawed Biplobi Communist Party, one of several guerrilla groups active in the southwest.
Hossain was last seen alive on the banks of the Ghangrail River, according to “The Daily Star”, an English-language, national-circulation daily. Shots were fired, according to two villagers who were in the area at the time, but police could not confirm whether Hossain was killed.
Bangladesh’s crime-ridden southwestern region is the most dangerous area in the country for journalists. On 2 March, Harunur Rashid, a crime reporter for the well-regarded regional newspaper “Dainik Purbanchal”, was shot dead as he was riding his motorcycle to work in Khulna. Local journalists believe Rashid was killed for his reporting on links between criminal syndicates and outlawed leftist guerrilla groups (see IFEX alerts of 5 and 4 March 2002).
On 17 April 2001, masked men kidnapped Nahar Ali, who, like Hossain, worked as a reporter for “Anirban” in the town of Dumuria. Ali’s assailants stabbed him, beat him severely, and broke his hands and legs before abandoning him on the outskirts of his village, according to police. He died shortly before midnight on 21 April, while undergoing treatment for his injuries at Khulna Medical College Hospital. Local journalists and police said that Ali was likely targeted by left-wing militants angered by his reporting on their illegal activities (see IFEX alerts of 4 March 2002, 25 and 24 April 2001).
CPJ asked to be kept informed about the status of the police investigation into Hossain’s abduction, and about prosecution efforts in the murders of Rashid and Ali.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the prime minister:
– expressing alarm at the dangers facing journalists in Bangladesh
-noting that the constant threat of violence undermines press freedom and therefore profoundly strains the foundations of democracy in Bangladesh
– urging her to declare an end to the culture of impunity and to ensure that the perpetrators of crimes against journalists are brought swiftly to justice
Appeals To
Her Excellency Khaleda Zia
Prime Minister, People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Prime Minister
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Fax: +88 02 811 3244
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.