At least 64 journalists across Bangladesh were subjected to physical attacks, legal harassment, threats, and obstruction while performing their professional duties during July, according to the Bangladesh Association of Journalists (BAJ).
In a press release issued on Monday, BAJ said that 37 journalists were injured in 29 separate incidents, while 12 faced legal harassment and 15 encountered threats, intimidation, or obstruction in carrying out their work. The organization also reported that a media outlet’s Facebook page was targeted in a cyberattack.
The report alleges involvement of political activists, juvenile gangs, and members of law enforcement agencies in several attack incidents.
According to BAJ, journalists were assaulted or harassed at several educational institutions, including Chattogram University, Jagannath University, Jashore University of Science and Technology, and Barishal University.
The report also highlights incidents in Nangalkot, Feni, Kuakata, Benapole, and Khulna, where journalists were allegedly attacked, threatened with weapons, severely beaten, or injured by gunfire.
BAJ said legal cases continue to be used as a tool to silence journalists. Among the reported incidents, a journalist in Muradnagar, Cumilla, was arrested in a Tk 10 billion defamation case filed by a BNP leader. Two journalists were also named in a vandalism case in Barishal’s Agailjhara.
Other incidents include an extortion case filed against a journalist and his parents in Gazipur following a report on government land encroachment, a General Diary (GD) against a journalist in Rangpur after seeking information about alleged irregularities involving a CID official, and a contractor in Kotalipara, Gopalganj, later withdrawing a lawsuit filed after the publication of a news report.
The organization further reported that at least 15 journalists faced threats, verbal abuse, intimidation, or obstruction while performing their professional responsibilities. Incidents were documented in Lalmai, Hili, Naria, Panchagarh, and Barhatta.
BAJ also alleged that the Facebook page of private television channel Channel One came under a coordinated cyberattack after it published an investigative report on the contracting business of State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam. The channel claimed the report was removed from Facebook through false copyright complaints and coordinated reporting.
Describing the overall situation as alarming for press freedom, BAJ called on the authorities to conduct impartial investigations into every incident, bring those responsible to justice, and ensure a safe working environment for journalists across the country.
