Bangladeshi authorities should drop all criminal proceedings against three journalists from the news website banglamail24, release them immediately, and restore press credentials to nine of their colleagues, said the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The three journalists could face a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison if charged and convicted under a law governing online publication, the CPJ said in a media release received here from New York on Friday (Aug 12).

"Jailing anyone for even a day under a law as broad, vaguely worded, and restrictive as Bangladesh's Information and Communication Technology Act is an injustice," CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler said from Washington.

Bangladesh should release Editor Shadat Ullah Khan, Executive Editor Maksudul Haider Chowdhury and Newsroom Editor Pranto Polash of the news portal "without delay," it said.

Members of law enforcement agencies on August 8 arrested banglamail24 Executive Editor Maksukul Alam, acting Editor Shahadat Ullah Khan, and reporter Pranta Palash after the website published a report, the CPJ said quoting press reports.