PEC demands action against Bangladesh scribekillers

Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global media safety and rights body express concern over the police inaction to nab the killers of  Dhaka-based television journalist AbdulBari, who was found dead on the bank of Hatirjheel lake in the Gulshan area of the capital city on 8 June. Journalist Bari (28), who was associated with the private channel DBC as a news producer, faced severe stabs from miscreants on his stomach and neck. Hailing from Sirajganj Sadar, Bariearlier worked for Mohona Television.

“PEC is alarmed at the sharp increase in the number of journalists affected by violence this year, where Ukraine and Mexico emerge as the most dangerous countries in the globe so far.  Since the beginning of
2022, at least 65 media workers have paid with lives for doing their job, which is a  worrying development,” said  Blaise Lampen, president of PEC (www.pressemblem.ch), adding that Bangladesh Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina should direct the concerned authorities to punish the perpetrators and adequately compensate the bereaved family.

Bari is the second journalist to be killed in Bangladesh this year after the murder of Mohiuddin Sarker Nayeem in  Cumilla locality by suspected drug dealers, said Nava Thakuria, PEC’s south Asia representative. Bangladesh’s eastern neighbor Myanmar witnessed the killing of one scribe (Pu Tui Dim) and its western giant neighbor India lost four journalists (namelyRohit Kumar Biswal, Sudhir Saini, Junaid Khan Pathan, and Subhash KumarMahato) to assailants on 1 January 2022, he added.