In
yet another attack on press freedom in Bangladesh,
warrants of arrests were issued on 11 June
against Mahfuz Anam, the editor and publisher
of The Daily Star, Matiur Rahman, the editor
of the Daily Prothom Alo, and Abdul Jalil,
the Secretary General of the main opposition
party, the Awami League.
This followed the publication, on 3 June,
of a letter written by Abdul Jalil expressing
his opinion about the candidacy of a Bangladeshi
nominee for an executive position in an
international organization. The letter contained
opinion critical of the nominee, a senior
government official, who in turn filed a
complaint before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate
Court under sections of the Bangladesh Penal
Code which provide for up to two years'
imprisonment for "defamation".
Amnesty International would consider anyone
detained in connection with the writing
or publication of this letter as a prisoner
of conscience. The Government of Bangladesh
must act now to stop the detention from
happening.
Harassment of the two leading editors is
in sharp contrast to a recent plea by Prime
Minister Begum Khaleda Zia at a meeting
of the South Asian Free Media Association
that journalists should sharpen their pens
"to write against narrowness, limited
vision, conflict and disputes (to) build
up powerful public opinion in South Asia
in favour of peace, friendship, humanism
and cooperation."
Amnesty International is urging the Government
of Bangladesh to ensure that under no circumstances
will Mahfuz Anam, Matiur Rahman and Abdul
Jalil be detained in connection with the
writing and publication of this letter.
Amnesty International further urges the
Government of Bangladesh to reform the Penal
Code to ensure once and for all that no
one expressing an opinion peacefully will
be detained or imprisoned under the so-called
" criminal defamation" laws.
Background
Despite pledges by authorities to uphold
the freedom of the press, journalists are
frequently targets of attacks, intimidation
and harassment.
They have been taken into custody for weeks
or sometimes months and many of them have
been tortured or ill-treated while in custody.
The recent use of "defamation"
criminal law against these two leading editors
may signal a new move to coerce journalists
to refrain from publishing articles deemed
critical of the authorities.
Amnesty International takes no position
with regard to views expressed in the letter.
The organization believes that there should
be no restriction on the right to freedom
of expression within the scope envisaged
in the international human rights law.
Following the warrants of arrest, lawyers
rushed to the Metropolitan Magistrate Court
in Dhaka and obtained bail. This means that
the two newspaper editors and the writer
of the letter are temporarily protected
against arbitrary detention, but they continue
to be at risk. In the past, the Government
of Bangladesh has repeatedly ignored court
orders for release on bail of those accused
or detained on politically motivated grounds.
Lawyers argue that standard practice for
dealing with claims of "defamation"
is in the first instance a representation
in writing to the paper involved for publication
of a rejoinder. Another remedy is to seek
compensation in the civil court. Neither
of these options were pursued by the complainant
who holds a senior government position.
The letter has reportedly been published
in over a dozen newspapers in Bangladesh.
The fact, however, that only these two newspapers
- which are known for their commitment to
high standards of professionalism and independence
- have been targeted point to an alarming
possibility that the government may seek
to impose restrictions on the freedom of
the press in the country.
News Release Issued by the International
Secretariat of Amnesty International
AI
Index: ASA 13/015/2003
13 June 2003
