Press Statement

Bangladeshi Journalists Beaten by Security Forces

17 Mar, 2014

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Bangladesh Manobadhikar Sangbadik Forum (BMSF) condemn the attack on two Bangladeshi journalists on the night of Thursday March 14.

Sajeda Sweety, a staff correspondent of online news portal banglanews24.com, and her husband Tauhid Shanta, a journalist with Asian Television, were beaten by two members of Bangladesh Ansar, a law enforcement and security forceadministered by the Ministry of Home Affairs as they were returning home on their motorbike.

According to BMSF, the Ansar men started harassing Sweety after the couple stopped to pick up a call on mobile phone. The couple were taken to a nearby Ansar camp where they were beaten with rifle butts.
Locals intervened to rescue the journalists at which point one of the Ansar men fired a shot from his rifle, hitting no one. The journalists were rescued when a traffic sergeant and some army personnel from Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-2 rushed to the camp and brought the situation under control.

Sweety and Shanta were taken to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.

The IFJ joins the BMSF in demanding thorough investigation into the incident and punishment for the attackers.

The IFJ said: “We are deeply concerned by this incident in which officers from a state law enforcement body brutally attacked journalists and threatened to kill them. We demand an immediate response from the government to punish the culprits.”

Written By

IFJ Asia-Pacific IFJ Asia-Pacific

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 140 countries.
For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +61 2 9333 0946
Find the IFJ on Twitter: @ifjasiapacific
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