The Sampadak Parishad on Monday expressed its deep concern at the recent events regarding the issuance of arrest warrants against editor and publisher of Prothom Alo Matiur Rahman and some of his colleagues and subsequent house raids by police in connection with the 'accidental death' by electrocution of school student Naimul Abrar Rahat.
The Parishad also demanded that Matiur Rahman and all others be guaranteed full protection under the law and their media institutions not be forced to suffer from any form of harassment.
"We have also noticed with alarm the unusual haste with which the arrest warrants were issued and the police going into action," said a statement issued by the Sampadak Parishad president Mahfuz Anam and its Secretary General Naem Nizam.
Such moves have added to the already restrictive atmosphere within which the media in Bangladesh are forced to function at the moment due to the operation of anti-free press laws like the Digital Security Act, ICT Act, etc. including the defamation laws, it stated.
"While the cause of justice, for which we have full respect, could have been equally served by issuing a summon to Matiur Rahman and others, especially when the former was not even present on the occasion, the move to arrest the prominent editor and his colleagues clearly signals an attempt to intimidate and harass the press and the journalists concerned," the statement said.
Mentioning rising misuse and abuse of these laws have also caused the media to suffer from regular harassment and self-censorship, it said: "We are forced to express the fear that under present conditions it is becoming increasingly difficult for the media to fulfil its constitutionally guaranteed role."
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