The Committee to Protect Journalists has written to Bangladesh’s Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, H.E. Md Asaduzzaman, urging the new government to fulfill its election promise to withdraw politically motivated cases against journalists, and to drop charges and release Farzana Rupa, Shakil Ahmed, Mozammel Haq Babu, and Shyamal Dutta.
The journalists have been detained for more than 18 months on murder charges, for which no credible evidence has been presented and no charge sheet served.
In the letter, CPJ noted that the journalists’ arrests under the previous government appeared to be in retaliation for perceived political affiliations. In almost 600 days, and in violation of legal regulations, the police have failed to file charge sheets substantiating the charges on which the journalists were arrested.
CPJ also raised serious humanitarian concerns: Dutta has documented cardiac and severe sleep apnea conditions that remain unassessed; Babu underwent major invasive surgery for prostate cancer in late 2023, but has not received follow-up care; and Rupa was held for two weeks in November 2024 in a “condemnation cell” reserved for death-row inmates.
Read the full letter here.