Gautam Das

December 15, 2006

Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed
President, People's Republic of Bangladesh
Chief Advisor to the Government of Bangladesh
Bangabhaban, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Via facsimile: 88-2-9566242

Your Excellency:

The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about threats and attacks against journalists in the run-up to general elections scheduled for January 23, 2007. We urge you to do everything in your power as leader of the interim government to ensure that assaults on the press are adequately investigated and punished, and that journalists are free to report on the election campaign without fear of retribution.

NOVEMBER 17. 2005
Updated: November 29, 2005

Gautam Das, Samakal
KILLED—CONFIRMED

Das, a reporter for the Dhaka-based daily Samakal was found strangled to death in his bureau office in the town of Faridpur, 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of the Bangladeshi capital, according to news reports.

New York, November 17, 2005—A reporter for the Dhaka-based daily Samakal was found strangled to death in his bureau office today, according to news reports. Journalists in the town of Faridpur, 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of the Bangladeshi capital, have launched protests demanding that authorities find and prosecute the killer of Gautam Das.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating to determine whether he was killed in connection with his journalism.