BANGLADESH

Country Summary

A political crisis in Bangladesh, emanating from long-standing tensions between the ruling Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and opposition parties led by the Awami League, led to severe and widespread attacks on the press. Journalists were variously assaulted, arrested, and in one case, murdered, because of their suspected ties to the opposition, their coverage of abuses by police and paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) during the rioting, or simply because they were caught in the violence between the opposition and government forces or supporters.

Lawlessness and violence enveloped the Feb. 15 elections, boycotted by opposition parties. Yasin Kabir Joy, a photographer for the daily Janakantha, and Tapan Dey, a photographer for the daily Khabar, were beaten on Feb. 4 by pro-government students while covering a clash between rival student groups at Dhaka University. A week later, on Feb. 10, Joy and Shaiful Islam, a photographer for Banglar Bani, were severely beaten by BDR troops while covering a clash between the BDR and opposition supporters. BDR troops broke four of Joy’s teeth and fractured his wrist and elbow. Law enforcement officials were also responsible for the death of Mohammad Quaruzzaman, a reporter for the weekly newspaper Neel Sagar, who was shot by police while he was covering their crackdown on a violent protest in the north of the country. The Dhaka-based daily Ajker Kagoj, a pro-Awami League paper, suffered sustained attacks. Masked intruders raided the offices of Ajker Kagoj on April 14, damaging property and threatening to kill the paper’s editor, Kazi Shahid Ahmed. Ahmed, who had been charged with sedition on Feb. 29, was in hiding at the time.

The violence abated after a second round of elections on June 12 that brought the Awami League to power under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed. In an address to the nation following her election, she promised to foster an atmosphere conducive to press freedom and to grant autonomy to state-owned media. Press freedom conditions have improved substantially since her government assumed office.

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