edited by Alastair Carthew and Simon Winkelmann
Bangladesh’s government scrapped a direct arrest warrant bill against journalists; at the same time it approved a new law obstructing foreign movie channels from being shown locally and the detention and attacks on journalists continued in 2011.The scrapping of the direct warrant arrest bill, eliminating the provision under Bangladesh’s Criminal Procedure Code was welcomed, but the government also introduced an amendment to the Code enabling summons against journalists for defamatory comments and publications.
Bangladesh, in fact, has enjoyed a boom in media, with relative press freedom, since the fall of the military ruler General Ershad in 1990. The particular legislation allowing for issuing of direct arrest warrants against journalists for writing anything defamatory has long been demanded to be scrapped by the Bangladesh media, with the government admitting in Parliament that it should have been revised much earlier as it was repressive.
However, the government also clamped down on the screening of foreign movie channels such as Star Movies, Z Movies, HBO, Star Gold and AXN on cable TV as the law strictly bans the showing of “any kiss scenes” in programme content. Now, pre-approval will be required from the Ministry of Information prior to broadcasting publicity and advertising material at Christian, Buddhist and Hindu festivals. A Bangladesh website, Weeklyblitz.net said the law contains several clauses “which is only seen in countries governed under dictatorial regimes.”
In attacks on journalists the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) a special police unit was accused of violence against journalists. An example was an attack on employees of Bangla Vision, a privately owned TV station in Dacca, the capital, who were attacked by members of the RAB over a dispute between two companies occupying the same building.
Newspaper editor Mohammad Ekramul Haque, owner and editor of the Sheershanews.com news website and weekly Sheersha Kagoj, was re-arrested in November immediately after being released on bail after three months in jail. He was arrested on a charge of extortion in July but he was re-arrested on the basis of a new complaint against him when he was released.
In other arrests and charges 15 students working for a local newspapers in Dacca who covered protests by fellow students at Jagannath University against the withdrawal of government subsidies faced charges of conspiracy, vandalism and planned arson of government property; S.M. Zakaria, Dainik Bhorer Kagoj newspaper’s correspondent in Narsingdi district was attacked and beaten over reports of extortion against a politician; and Aboul Assad, editor of Dainik Sangram, a daily supporting the Islamic opposition party Jamaat-e-Islami was arrested after clashes between police and Jamaat-e-Islami protesters.
UNESCO was also active in Bangladeshi journalism, organising the UNESCO Bangladesh Journalism Award 2011 to celebrate World Press Freedom Day on 3 May. Nine journalists from leading print and electronic media received the awards.
Bangladesh had 1.7 million Internet users at March, 2011 and the same number of Facebook subscribers.
Bangladesh is 126th on the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index 2010.