A local journalist was hacked to death following an old feud in Tarakanda upazila of Mymensingh, on Saturday morning. Safiqul Islam Khan, Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali Model Police Station, confirmed the matter. The victim was Swapan Bhadra, 55, was the son of Jagesh Chandra Bhadra and a former vice president of the Tarakanda Press Club. Bhadra was actively involved with both local and national newspapers. 2 college students die after ‘drinking toxic alcohol’ in Faridpur According to police and local sources, Bhadra was known for his outspoken stance against terrorism and drug trafficking in the area. He had a long-standing dispute with a local drug dealer named Sagar. Around 11 am on Saturday, while Bhadra was reading a newspaper outside his home, Sagar attacked him with a knife, leaving him with fatal injuries. Locals rushed him to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. "Efforts are underway to arrest the suspect," said the OC, adding that legal procedures are in progress.  

Renowned Bangladeshi film critic, screenwriter and journalist Sadia Khalid Reeti has been invited to the Fipresci (International Federation of Film Critics) jury at the upcoming 77th Cannes Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world in which she was a jury member before in 2019 when she became the second Bangladeshi to receive this honour. A Screenwriting graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Reeti has served as a jury member at different international film festivals in Italy, India, England, Nepal, France, Russia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. She also served as a Fipresci jury at the Bengaluru International Film Festival, International Film Festival of Kerala and Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF), and is currently serving as the Co-Convenor of the West Meets East Screenplay Lab at DIFF, one of the leading script development labs in the country. With 'Tati', Coke Studio Bangla launches season 3 paying homage to Jamdani Reeti became Bangladesh's first international voter for the Golden Globe Awards in 2022. A Berlinale Talents alumna, she attended prestigious mentorship programs with Film Independent and Locarno Open Doors. Alongside her responsibilities as the Cultural Editor of Dhaka Tribune, one of the leading English dailies in the country, Reeti teaches film studies at different universities and institutions. She is a recipient of the Charles Wallace Fellowship from the British Council, as a part of which she trained in surreal filmmaking at the British Film Institute in 2023. Regarding her return to Cannes, Reeti said: “Cannes is the biggest and most prestigious film festival in the world. It’s an incredible honour to be invited back. Having our film critics on the jury board more often will enable us to convey our cultural point of view and help world cinema move away from its Eurocentric lens.” “The invitation always arrives so late that it’s difficult to arrange the visa and other necessities with a green passport,” she said about her travel preparations. “The festival has grown so much over the years that it’s now a logistical nightmare trying to find suitable lodging. Hopefully, when more of us participate in such festivals, the authorities will keep provisions to reduce the stress.” From Bangladesh, Ahmed Muztaba Zamal was the first Fipresci jury at Cannes in 2002, 2005, and 2009. Reeti came next in 2019, followed by Bidhan Rebeiro in 2022. They joined as members of the IFCAB (International Film Critics Association of Bangladesh). ‘Adyontor’ to release their first song ‘Opekkhar Chithi’ tomorrow The 77th annual Cannes Film Festival is due to take place from 14 to 25 May 2024. American filmmaker and actress Greta Gerwig will serve as jury president for the main competition, and the main competition at Cannes will include veteran filmmakers like Coppola, Audiard, Cronenberg, Arnold, Lanthimos, Sorrentino, Abbasi and so on this year.

Bangladesh authorities must immediately and impartially investigate the assaults on at least 27 journalists covering recent political rallies and hold the perpetrators accountable, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said. On October 28, at least 27 journalists covering rallies in Dhaka were attacked. CPJ spoke to journalists who accused BNP supporters of attacking the journalists. Md Rafsan Jani, a crime reporter for the daily Kalbela newspaper, told CPJ that he was filming BNP supporters assaulting police officers when two demonstrators approached him and took his phone and identification card. A group of BNP supporters then surrounded Jani and beat him with iron rods, sticks, and pipes as he repeatedly identified himself as a journalist, he said, adding that he managed to escape after around 20 minutes. CPJ, rights groups call for stopping ‘harassment’ of journalist Rozina As of November 1, his items had not been returned. The CPJ also took note of The Daily Star report that claimed Awami League demonstrators beat the daily Kalbela reporter Abu Saleh Musa while covering their rally. “The attacks on at least 27 Bangladeshi journalists covering recent political rallies in Dhaka must see swift and transparent accountability,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna. “The leadership and supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League, as well as police, must respect the rights of journalists to freely and safely report on the lead-up to the upcoming election scheduled for January,” he said. SA Masum, a photographer for the daily Inqilab newspaper, told CPJ that he was taking photos of a confrontation between Awami League and BNP supporters when his head was repeatedly struck from behind with what he suspected to be a bamboo stick, knocking him unconscious while the attackers, whom he did not identify, continued to beat him. Bystanders at the scene rescued Masum and took him to the hospital, where he was treated for a concussion and severe bruising and open lesions throughout his body, according to the journalist, who shared photos of his injuries with CPJ. Md Sirajum Salekin, a crime reporter for the Dhaka Times, told CPJ that he was on his motorcycle on the way to cover clashes at the chief justice’s residence when a vehicle hit his motorcycle from behind, causing him to fall and break two bones in his right leg. Record number of journalists jailed worldwide in 2020: CPJ  Salekin said he believed he was targeted because he was wearing his press badge and his motorcycle was marked with a sticker of the Dhaka Times. Mohammad Ali Mazed, a video reporter for the French news agency Agence France-Presse, told CPJ that he was covering a clash between police and BNP demonstrators while holding a camera and press identification when five to six demonstrators surrounded him. The demonstrators damaged Mazed’s camera and other news equipment and beat him on his head, back, and right shoulder with bamboo sticks for around three minutes until the journalist fled the scene with the assistance of bystanders, he said. CPJ names Shahidul Alam among four for Int’l Press Freedom Awards 2020 Sazzad Hossain, a freelance photographer working with Bangla Tribune and international outlets, including the British newspaper The Guardian and photo agency SOPA Images, told CPJ that BNP protesters threw broken bricks at him and trampled him while he was covering a clash with police. Salahuddin Ahmed Shamim, a freelance photographer reporting for the news agency Fair News Service, told CPJ that he was covering BNP protesters assaulting police officers when seven to eight of the party’s supporters surrounded him, beat him in the back with bamboo sticks, and kicked him for around 15 minutes. Two journalists who spoke to CPJ — Sheikh Hasan Ali, chief photojournalist for Kaler Kantho newspaper, and Ahammad Foyez, senior correspondent for New Age newspaper — said they were struck with rubber bullets when police attempted to disperse BNP protesters, leaving them with minor injuries. Ali told CPJ that an unidentified man hit the Kaler Kantho photographer Lutfor Rahman with a bamboo stick on his right shoulder while covering the same clashes. Md Hanif Rahman, a photographer for Ekushey TV, told CPJ that he and Ekushey TV reporter Touhidur Rahman were covering an arson attack on a police checkpoint when they were surrounded by a group of 10 to 12 men who beat him with pipes and sticks and pushed Touhidur. Rabiul Islam Rubel, a reporter for the daily Kalbela, told CPJ that he was among a crowd of BNP supporters while covering the clashes at the chief justice’s residence when 15 to 20 men threw bricks at him while shouting that journalists are “government brokers.” Jony Rayhan, a reporter for the daily Kalbela, told CPJ that BNP supporters beat him while covering their rally. Rayhan was also injured by a sound grenade that landed in front of him while police were trying to disperse the demonstrators, he said. Salman Tareque Sakil, chief reporter for Bangla Tribune, told CPJ that he sustained a leg fracture after a brick was thrown at him while covering the BNP rally. Jubair Ahmed, a Bangla Tribune reporter, told CPJ that while police were dispersing BNP demonstrators, a tear gas shell landed in front of him, blurring his vision before the protesters trampled him while fleeing the scene. Tahir Zaman, a reporter for the news website The Report, was also injured by a rubber bullet while covering clashes at the BNP rally, CPJ said. Read more: Day 3 of blockade: 4 vehicles burnt in Dhaka, Narayanganj so far

Senior journalist, storyteller, and senior member of Chattogram Metropolitan Union of Journalists (CMUJ) Khaled Belal has passed away. He was 80. He breathed his last around 10: 00 am on Monday. He was buried in the graveyard on the Garibullah Shah Shrine premises in Chattogram city after his namaz-e-janaza. Journalist Rafiq Bhuiyan, injured during yesterday’s violence, dies  Khaled Belal left behind a son, two daughters, and a host of colleagues and admirers. According to family sources, Khaled was ill for a long time. After his physical condition deteriorated recently, his family members admitted him to the National Hospital in the port city, where he died while undergoing treatment in the ICU. Born in the house of Oli Gandhi near Bauria Moulvibazar in the Sandwip upazila of Chattogram, Khaled was the assistant editor of the Daily Ishan. JS secretariat PR director Labannya Ahmed dies  At the beginning of his career, he worked at The Daily Paigham in Dhaka. He then joined the Press Information Department (PID). After retiring from government duties, he went back to journalism. After The Daily Ishan, he joined the English daily The People's View as an advisory editor. Among his numerous books, several stories and essays are notable, including "Mara Gange Dub Satar" and "Khoma Koro Sharifar Ma'. Former caretaker govt advisor Imam Uddin Ahmad Chowdhury no more Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) President M Abdullah and Secretary General Nurul Amin Rokon, CMUJ President Md Shahnawaz, and General Secretary Saleh Noman expressed deep shock at the death of Khaled Belal. In a condolence message, the leaders conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family.

In a collective plea for press freedom and human rights, 19 international organisations have urged the administration of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to halt cases initiated under the Digital Security Act (DSA) against journalist Adhora Yeasmean. This urgent appeal follows an investigation into Yeasmean's video report for a private TV channel RTV on alleged activities of the religious organization Rajarbagh Darbar Sharif, which led to accusations against her under the DSA. Read : Cabinet approves Cyber Security Act to replace controversial DSA The coalition of organizations has also expressed alarm over reports of harassment targeted at Yeasmean by members of Rajarbagh Darbar Sharif. They allege that since mid-July, she has been subjected to unauthorized surveillance, threats, and intimidation. These actions are believed to be retaliatory against her investigative journalism. The coalition insists that authorities swiftly investigate these threats, hold the culprits accountable, and ensure the journalist's safety and psychological well-being. The coalition also calls for Bangladesh to terminate the DSA investigation into Akramul Ahsan Kanchan, a co-accused in Yeasmean's report. Kanchan claimed that Shakerul Kabir, the leader of Rajarbagh Darbar Sharif, acquired local properties deceptively. The coalition views this legal backlash against journalistic sources as a threat to press freedom. Read : DSA amended to prevent misuse of law: Quader Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media (BJIM), a platform of Bangladeshi journalists covering the country for various global media outlets, also endorsed the letter and urged authorities to drop any investigation into Adhora Yeasmin.  “Press freedom is vital for a thriving democracy, allowing voices to be heard and truths to be revealed,” stated BJIM spokesperson Redwan Ahmed. “We urge Bangladeshi authorities to cease using the criminal justice system to harass or intimidate journalists and to drop charges against Adhora Yeasmin for her journalistic work.” Amid the January 2024 election, the groups stress free journalism without fear, noting the DSA's repeal but cautioning against the new Cyber Security Act's threats to expression. The coalition also calls for involving stakeholders to shape rights-respecting legislation, underscoring the need to drop charges against expression and release detainees under the DSA. Read : No journalists will be harassed by Cyber Security Act: Law Minister Organisations who have signed the letter are Amnesty International, ARTICLE 19 South Asia, Asian Human Rights Commission, Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media, Capital Punishment Justice Project, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ), Committee to Protect Journalists, Forum for Freedom of Expression, Bangladesh, Free Press Unlimited, IFEX, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), International Women’s Media Foundation, PEN America, PEN Bangladesh, PEN International, Reporters Without Borders, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

Mahmudul Alam Babu, chairman Sadhurpara UP in Jamalpur who is a suspect in the murder of Banglanews24.com journalist Golam Rabbani Nadim, was detained from Debiganj upazila of Panchagarh district early Saturday (June 17, 2023). Members of Rapid Action  Battalion (RAB) detained Babu and two others around 5 am in Chilahati union of the upazila, said Jamal Hossain, officer-in-charge of Debiganj Police Station. Also Read: Journalist injured in attack by miscreants in Jamalpur dies  They were trying to flee the country by crossing the border, RAB sources said. RAB will later brief the media on this detention. Golam Rabbani's wife, Monira Begum, alleged that her husband was killed on the orders UP chairman Mahmudul Alam Babu due to his news reporting. Also Read: Take immediate action against journalist Rabbani's killers: Sultana Kamal-led MSF Golam Rabbani was returning home on June 14 when he was attacked by a group of terrorists in Bakshiganj upazila. The assailants physically assaulted him before fleeing the scene, leaving him unconscious. He died at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital the following day. Monira claimed that her husband had been subjected to various forms of harassment before the incident, and it was the chairman's associates who carried out the killing. She demanded exemplary punishment of those involved in the incident. Also Read: TIB condemns killing of journalist Rabbani

A prominent Pakistani television journalist who went missing last week, apparently because of his public support to former Prime Minister Imran Khan, returned home early Tuesday after being released by his captors, his family and his employer said. Sami Abrahim's brother, Ali Raza, took to Twitter to confirm his release. BOL TV confirmed his release in a news announcement. Abrahim went missing Thursday when eight people in four vehicles intercepted his car on his way back home from work in the capital, Islamabad, and took him away, according to his family and BOL TV where Abrahim works. No one had claimed responsibility for Abrahim's abduction, but it is widely believed that he was being held by the country's security agencies, which are notorious for abducting, harassing and torturing journalists. Abrahim has long publicly opposed the government of Khan's successor, Premier Shahbaz Sharif. Khan, a former cricket star who became an Islamist politician, was in office in 2018-2022 and was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament last year. Another pro-Khan TV journalist, Imran Riaz, went missing earlier this month and was yet to be freed.

China was the biggest global jailer of journalists last year with more than 100 behind bars, according to a press freedom group, as President Xi Jinping’s government tightened control over society. Xi's government also was one of the biggest exporters of propaganda content, according to Reporters without Boarders. China ranked second to last on the group’s annual index of press freedom, behind only neighbor North Korea. The ruling Communist Party has tightened already strict controls on media in China, where all newspapers and broadcasters are state-owned. Websites and social media are required to enforce censorship that bans material that might spread opposition to one-party rule. Also Read: Chinese who reported on COVID to be released after 3 years Xi, China’s most powerful figure in decades, called during a 2016 meeting with journalists who had been awarded official prizes for them to adhere to “the correct orientation of public opinion." Xi is pursuing a “crusade against journalism,” Reporters Without Borders said in a report Wednesday. It called China's decline in press freedom “disastrous.” Beijing operates what is regarded as the world's most extensive system of internet controls. Its filters try to block the Chinese public from seeing websites abroad operated by news outlets, governments and human rights and other activist groups. Chinese journalists have been prosecuted on charges of spying, leaking national secrets and picking quarrels, a vague accusation used to jail dissidents. Others are subjected to surveillance, intimidation and harassment. Also Read: China's foreign minister makes rare visit to Myanmar border Journalist Dong Yuyu, who worked at a ruling party-affiliated newspaper and is a former Harvard University fellow, faces espionage charges after being detained for more than one year, his family said last week. In 2022, Chinese-born Australian journalist Cheng Lei was tried in China on national security charges but has yet to learn the verdict, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in March. Cheng worked for CGTN, the English-language state TV channel aimed at foreign audiences. She was detained in August 2019 and accused of sharing state secrets. In Hong Kong, the Communist Party forced a prominent newspaper, Apple Daily, to shut down as part of a crackdown on pro-democracy sentiment. Apple Daily's founder, Jimmy Lai, was convicted of fraud last year that his supporters said were politically motivated. Six other former executives of the newspaper pleaded guilty.

A Dhaka court on Monday (April 03, 2023) granted bail to Prothom Alo reporter Shamsuzzaman Shams in a case filed under the Digital Security Act (DSA). Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Nur granted the bail on a bond of Tk 20,000. A Dhaka court on Thursday sent him to jail rejecting his bail petition. Another petition was filed on Monday seeking bail. Later, the journalist was shifted to Kashimpur Central Jail from Keraniganj on March 31. Meanwhile, he was taken back to Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj from Kashimpur Central Jail on April 1. Also read: Journalist Shamsuzzaman taken back to Dhaka Central Jail On March 29, members of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in plainclothes picked up Shams from his residence in Ambagan area, adjacent to Jahangirnagar University, around 4:30 am. The same day, a Jubo League leader filed a case under the Digital Security Act against Shams, accusing him of publishing a "false and fabricated report" on the Prothom Alo website. On March 29, an FIR was filed by a lawyer named Abdul Malek (Mashiur Malek), accusing Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman, reporter Shamsuzzaman Shams, an unnamed “assistant cameraman”, and unnamed others of “using print, online, and electronic media to tarnish the image and reputation of the state.” In the FIR, the lawyer also mentioned that the accused were “purposefully spreading misinformation to deteriorate the law and order situation of the country.” Read More: Prothom Alo Editor seeks anticipatory bail in DSA case, hearing yet to begin The High Court on Sunday (April 02, 2023) granted six weeks anticipatory bail to Prothom Alo Editor and Publisher Matiur Rahman in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.

The government of Bangladesh has said as a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child it would not tolerate any act of abusing children, noting that Prothom Alo journalist Shamsuzzaman Shams was arrested because of “child abuse and exploitation”. "The government would also not accept any such effort aimed at maligning the Independence Day of the nation," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today (April 01, 2023). The government of Bangladesh is committed to uphold the freedom of expression for all its citizens and the media, the foreign ministry said. Read More: Prothom Alo journalist Shams denied bail, sent to jail However, it said, creating social unrest by undertaking such “fraudulent acts” is contrary to the spirit of honest journalism. The ministry said it has been brought to the notice of the government that some international media and institutions are claiming that a journalist in Bangladesh, named Shamsuzzaman, has been arrested as he wrote about the “cost of living in Bangladesh”. "This information is totally false and fabricated. This journalist was arrested because of ‘child abuse’ and ‘child exploitation," the foreign ministry said. Many media outlets have been continuously reporting on the cost of living in Bangladesh since the beginning of the Ukraine war which has caused inflation around the world. Read More: Prothom Alo journalist Shams taken to court "No one has been arrested due to such reporting. The said journalist was arrested because of child abuse and child exploitation, as he offered ten taka to a 9-year-old boy and then expressed his own views in the name of that child," the ministry said. "That is surely an act of child abuse and exploitation. Secondly, he tried to undermine the independence of Bangladesh on the great Independence Day. These acts are surely tantamount to punishable crimes," the foreign ministry said. Read More: Prothom Alo reporter Shamsuzzaman sued under DSA