The Editors' Council on Sunday strongly condemned the suspension of journalists' entry to the Secretariat.
The council also said such move is a threat to free journalism, according to a statement issued to the media.
"The stakeholder linked to the association (EC) believes that and barrier to press freedom," it reads.
The reaction came following a press release issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on December 27 that said the decision of preventing journalists' access to the secretariat using their accreditation card was made in the wake of security concern arising from a fire incident at the Secretariat.
The Editors' Council mentioned that the Press Wing of the Chief Adviser's Office on Saturday also expressed regret over the matter.
The statement of the press wing said journalists' access to the Secretariat has been restricted for security reasons, alongside other non-government pass holders. The government will review the accreditation cards.
A day after, a press note from the Department of Information said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has started reassessing the accreditation cards; soon new permanent/temporary accreditation card/pass will be issued. Journalists will be given temporary cards from December 30.
The EC hailed the initiative to review and reassess accreditation processes to sort out non-professional journalists, for which EC also expressed willingness to cooperate.
However, it criticised the blanket restriction on journalists' entry, which it believes attacks press freedom.
"Such propensities were also seen evident during the fascist regime of the Awami League," said the Editors' statement, adding that when financial irregularities were widespread, journalists' access to regulatory institutions like Bangladesh Bank was restricted.
It also said at that time, journalists' stance on such activities was clear and unequivocal, which was seen during the pre-uprising era also.
The statement added that after the interim government took office following the downfall of the Sheikh Hasina government on 5 August, demands arose for the reform or repeal of the Cyber Security Act.
On November 7, the interim government decided to repeal the previous act. Later on December 24, the draft of the Cyber Security Ordinance 2024 was approved. However, the new ordinance continues to enable the police with similar powers, which has raised concern among journalists.
"The new ordinance retains the same powers for the police as the previous one, particularly in Sections 35 and 36. Notably, the repealed Cyber Security Act also granted similar powers to law enforcement," the statement said, adding that was a key concern raised by the Editors' Council due to the potential misuse of the police authority under the law.
The EC believes that the unexpected measure to suspend journalists' entry to the secretariat and their accreditation cards is unjustified.
Besides, one-sided decision to prepare ordinance without taking stakeholders' opinion is a frustrating move and reflection of dominating attitude.
In addition to protesting the cancellation of access, the EC called for taking due measures to address the concern raised about the provisions in the draft Cyber Security Ordinance based on the views of all stakeholders, the statement added.
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