Bangla scribe killed, PEC demands fair probe

Geneva: Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global media safety and rights body, condemns the killing of Bangladeshi journalist Golam Rabbani Nadim (45), who becomes the 26th media person to be killed this year till date. It also demands a fair probe to book the culprits and punish them under the law.

Local media reported that Nadim was physically attacked by some supporters of a local Awami League party leader on 14 June evening at Jamalpur locality and he succumbed to injuries at Mymensingh medical college hospital the next day. Associated with a Dhaka-based news portal (Banglanews24.com) and a news channel (Ekattor TV), Nadim was seemingly targeted for a news item.

“Journalists across the world enjoy the right to report in media outlets. If the report is not factual, one can go to the court. But none is allowed to physically attack a scribe for his reporting” said Blaise Lempen, president of PEC (https://pressemblem.ch/pec-news.shtml), adding that Awami League chief and Bangla Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should take personal note about the brutal incident to nab all the culprits.

PEC’s south Asia representative Nava Thakuria informs that the Bangla police have already arrested four persons suspecting their involvement with the crime. Nadim is the second Bangla journalist (after Ashiqul Islam of Brahmanbaria) killed in 2023. Bangladesh witnessed the murder of three scribes (Hashibur Rahaman Rubel, Mohiuddin Sarker Nayeem and Abdul Bari) last year. India lost Shashikant Warishe on 7 Feb last and four journalists (Rohit Kumar Biswal, Sudhir Saini, Juned Khan Pathan and SK Mahato) to assailants in 2022.