Reporters
Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières)
today wrote to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia
calling for the immediate release of journalist
Hiramon Mondol, who was viciously beaten
by police in the south-western city of Khulna
on 8 August and has since been held in the
Khulna prison infirmary. The organisation
also called for the dismissal of the patently
false charge of theft that has been brought
against him.
The local correspondent of the daily Dainik
Bartaman, Mondol was attacked by a group
of police officers who included members
of a special unit assigned to combatting
organised crime and extreme-left activists.
They beat him with batons, hockey sticks
and rifles and took him bound hand and foot
to Paikgacha camp before transferring him
to the prison infirmary.
The assault came just a few days after Mondol
wrote an article about a theft of fish from
Baroyariya market in which the perpetrators
were reportedly members of the special force.
He is now being prosecuted for theft under
a draconian "speedy trial" procedure
introduced in 2002 which frees the hands
of the authorities and gives the accused
no time to
prepare a defence.
Mondol's newspaper, which supports the government,
said on 16 August that it intended to circulate
a petition for his release.
Reporters Without Borders is extremely concerned
about the constant increase in violence
against the press in recent months in Bangladesh,
one of the few countries in the world where
journalists face violence and open hostility
from political leaders and police on a daily
basis.
Since the beginning of the year, Reporters
Without Borders has registered 51 physical
attacks against journalists (including 10
attempted killings), 50 death threats, 13
arrests, 14 abusive lawsuits and prosecutions
and five abductions.
Reporters
Sans Frontières
5 rue Geoffroy Marie
75009 Paris
33 1 44 83 84 70
33 1 45 23 11 51 (fax)
asia@rsf.org
