CPJ, ARTICLE 19 alarmed over attacks on Prothom Alo, Star

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and ARTICLE 19 have expressed grave concern over violent attacks on leading Bangladeshi media houses and cultural institutions following recent unrest in the capital, report agencies.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it is alarmed by reports that crowds vandalised and set fire to the offices of the leading dailies Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, trapping journalists inside before they were rescued.
In a statement on Friday, CPJ said it is monitoring the situation closely and urged Bangladeshi authorities to ensure the safety of journalists and news outlets and to hold those responsible accountable.
CPJ also shared safety guidance for journalists covering political rallies and protests, outlining measures to reduce risks in situations involving crowd violence.
Besides, ARTICLE 19 strongly condemned the attacks on the offices of The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, the assault on New Age Editor and Editors' Council President Nurul Kabir, and vandalism of the cultural institution Chhayanaut.
ARTICLE 19 said the violence erupted on Thursday, December 18, in the aftermath of the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, a key figure of the July 2024 uprising and convener of Inqilab Moncho. The organisation noted that both Prothom Alo and The Daily Star have faced sustained threats from extremist groups in recent times.
According to multiple reports, mobs vandalised and torched the Prothom Alo building in Karwan Bazar before attacking the Daily Star office in Farmgate, where staff members were trapped until firefighters and security personnel intervened. Both newspapers were forced to suspend their Friday print and online editions.
ARTICLE 19 said the attacks reflect a growing climate of impunity and urged the interim government to ensure immediate protection for media and cultural institutions, deploy adequate security, and take swift legal action against the perpetrators to safeguard freedom of expression ahead of the 2026 national elections.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Saturday said Bangladesh authorities should now take urgent steps to prevent the 'mob attacks' that have taken hold in the country since the Sheikh Hasina government was ousted last August, and should ensure conditions for 'free, fair, and participatory' elections in February.
"The attacks on the offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star are an alarming assault on freedom of expression," said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Ganguly said incitement to violence by some political actors, including on social media, is contributing to an environment in which journalists, political and social activists, and even artists
and singers, are deliberately placed in danger.
The attacks followed the killing of an election candidate, Sharif Osman Hadi, who came to prominence during the 2024 student movement that overthrew the previous authoritarian government in 2024, said the New York-based rights body.
Bangladesh is engaged in a fraught struggle to re-establish democracy and respect for human rights after the autocratic rule of Sheikh Hasina, it said.
The interim government has announced elections for February 12, 2026, but political violence and failures to uphold the rule of law severely threaten civic space and risk further rights abuses, said the HRW.
"The assassination of the youth leader Osman Hadi was a terrible act," said Ganguly.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International (AI) has said the interim government must take immediate steps to hold perpetrators of acts of violence and killings accountable in a fair trial without recourse to the death penalty.
It called on the interim government of Bangladesh to ensure prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations into the killing of youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi, and the subsequent mob violence which led to the burning of the offices Prothom Alo and Daily Star and Chhayanaut, and the harassment of New Age editor Nurul Kabir.
"Furthermore, we are alarmed by the lynching of Hindu garment worker Dipu Chandra Das following allegations of blasphemy," said the rights body in a statement.
The Amnesty International condemned the mob violence which has resulted in injuries, destruction of property, and even death.