Germany urges BD to protect internet activists

Germany on Monday strongly condemned the murder of Niladri Chatterjee alias Niloy and urged the government to take necessary measures to protect free thinkers and bring the culprits to justice. "The culprits that committed these horrible crimes must be brought to justice," said Dr Ferdinand von Weyhe, Chargé d' Affaires of the German Embassy in Dhaka. He made the remark after meeting Dr Imran H Sarker, a representative of the blogger community, to discuss the recent attacks on liberal internet activists in Bangladesh. "This creates a general atmosphere of fear amongst the liberal minds in Bangladesh. I call upon the government of Bangladesh to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of internet activists in this country, to strengthen the freedom of expression for every citizen irrespective of their opinions and to do its best for a quick investigation of the murders," said the diplomat. In his conversation with Dr Sarker, Dr von Weyhe emphasised that the Germany strongly condemns Niladri’s murder. "This barbaric assault on an outspoken member of the blogger community is the latest attack on the freedom of expression in Bangladesh. A society needs to practice tolerance and cannot allow extremists to dictate the actions and words of liberal minds," he said. Dr Sarker and Weyhe discussed options to protect bloggers and internet activists in Bangladesh. They also spoke about measures to limit the reach of terror organisations. The German Embassy has been working on protection of journalists in Bangladesh for numerous years and has undertaken several projects on de-radicalisation. This is the fourth murder of a liberal blogger in Bangladesh in the past six month. "We extend our heartfelt condolences to the widow and family of Niladri Chatterjee," added the Chargé d'Affaires after his meeting, according to a news agency.
- mbz