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Speakers at a dialogue in London have slated Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration for “suppressing the media and violating civil and human rights”.
They also criticised the current administration, alleging that it had failed to honour its election pledges as journalists continued to be held in detention on what they described as fabricated allegations.
The event, titled “Media Freedom for Human Rights and Democracy”, was held on May 21, organised by the UK-based advocacy platform Protect Bangladesh, in association with London-based television channels EyeMedia and Bridge Bangla.
According to a media statement, the conference brought together a diverse audience of international and national journalists, human rights defenders, legal experts, academics, and members of the diaspora.
Participants at the dialogue condemned the ongoing intimidation, harassment, and detention of media professionals in Bangladesh, noting that the political abuses triggered after the 2024 unrest persist unabated.
They expressed solidarity with the detained journalists and called for an immediate halt to the criminalisation of truth-telling and immediate release of the detained.
The keynote speaker, William Horsley, a veteran UK journalist and representative of the Commonwealth Journalists Association (CJA), asserted that a functioning democracy is impossible without media freedom.
He heavily criticised the current authorities for “breaching democratic commitments” made ahead of the February 2025 elections.
“It is completely unacceptable that prominent and respected Bangladeshi journalists including Shyamal Dutta, Mozammel Haque Babu, Farzana Rupa and Shakil Ahmed are still being detained and their fundamental rights are being denied 18 months after their arrests on spurious and groundless charges following the bloody events of 2024,” Horsley said.
“Until they are released and the charges against them are dropped the government will stand accused of holding press freedom hostage and of breaching the promises it made in order to win last February’s elections.”
Rita Payne, an executive member of the CJA, UK, and former head of BBC South Asia for over three decades, voiced deep concern regarding the ongoing judicial persecution.
She singled out Yunus, pointing out his failure to “safeguard journalists and press freedom” despite holding a Nobel Peace Prize.
Barrister Tania Amir provided an analysis of Bangladesh's media legislation, institutional setups, and socio-political climate.
She argued that the imprisonment of media professionals reflects a “systematic campaign to silence political opposition and free thinkers to insulate the ruling class from public scrutiny”.
She warned that such crackdowns would continue under any government unless an independent judiciary and the rule of law are established.
Syed Badrul Ahsan, another prominent journalist and CJA member, remarked that the post-2024 interim setup functioned as an "illegal regime which systematically destroyed structures and symbols which held the country together".
Nahas Pasha, editor of Janomot, a Bengali newspaper based in the UK and CJA vice-president, demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists detained on trumped-up charges.
Shushma Shashi Dutta, the daughter of imprisoned journalist Shyamal, shared the immense emotional and social toll her family has endured.
She appealed for global assistance, revealing that her father has been jailed without trial for over 600 days, suffers from life-threatening medical conditions, and is being denied critical medication.
