On the day Avijit Roy was murdered in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, I had only just left the country. When I arrived in India later that day a Bangladeshi journalist broke the news to me that Roy had been hacked to death and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya, also a blogger, had been critically injured.
Roy, a Bangladesh-born American, was well known for his writing on science, religion, homosexuality, and freedom of expression in books and on the blog he founded, Mukto-Mona. Roy’s killing on February 26 was followed by the murders by Islamic extremists of at least three other bloggers and a publisher in Bangladesh last year.
Authorities have made arrests in his murder, but one year on there has been no justice and, as CPJ has documented, the climate for bloggers remains perilous.
Slideshow: Avijit Roy
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Rafida Ahmed Bonya and her husband, Avijit Roy, pictured at a Dhaka book fair. The couple were attacked while visiting a fair in Dhaka University in 2015. Roy was killed and Bonya seriously injured. (Rafida Ahmed Bonya)
Roy and his wife, Rafida Ahmed Bonya, during a trip to the Grand Canyon in 2012. The couple, who were based in the U.S., both wrote about sensitive issues on their blogs. (Rafida Ahmed Bonya)
Police investigate the site where American-Bangladeshi blogger Avijit Roy was murdered. Arrests have been made but there have been no convictions a year after his death. (AP/Rajib Dhar)
Ajay Roy, right, stands next to the coffin of his son, who was the founder of a popular blog. (AP/Suvra Kanti Das)
Candles are placed on a fence in Kolkata, India in tribute to Roy. The blogger’s death was marked in several countries. (AP/Bikas Das)
Farabi Shafiur Rahman, center, a suspect in the murder of Roy, is escorted by members of Bangladesh’s security forces. Authorities have made several arrests over the murder of Roy and other bloggers in the country. (AP/Suvra Kanti Das)
Mohammad Abul Bashar, left, the leader of extremist group Ansarullah Bangla Team, is pictured being escorted by police along with other suspects in the murders of Roy and the blogger Ananta Bijoy Das, including Mohammad Zafran Hassan, 20, center, and Julhas Bishas, 24, second right. (AP /A.M. Ahad)
Torches are held aloft at a rally in Bangladesh condemning the killing of Roy, who was well known for his writing on religion, freedom of expression, and science. (AP/A.M. Ahad)
Avijit Roy and his wife, Rafida Ahmed Bonya. In March 2015 Bonya, who was seriously injured, told the BBC the attackers will not silence her from speaking out about her and her husband’s beliefs. (Rafida Ahmed Bonya)
