18 journos assaulted while covering Jan 7 ‘polls violence’: CPJ

At least 18 journalists were assaulted or harassed while covering alleged election irregularities and violence on January 7, 2024, Committee to Protect Journalists reported in a statement.

Mujib Mashal, South Asia bureau chief for The New York Times, told CPJ that the newspaper was denied government approval to report on the polls.

The day before the election, the Daily Manab Zamin newspaper's website was blocked in Bangladesh, according to Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, the outlet's editor-in-chief.

Chowdhury told CPJ that the outlet did not receive a government notice detailing why the website was blocked, and access was restored on Monday, January 8.

At around 1:00pm on election day, around 15 to 20 men wearing Awami League badges attacked seven journalists while they were reporting on an assault on independent candidate Ataur Rahman outside a polling station in Lalmonirhat, stated CPJ.

The journalists were MA Rahim, a correspondent for the broadcaster Ananda TV, Rimon Hossain, a camera operator with Ananda TV, Masud Rana, a correspondent with the online news portal enews71, Sumon Khan, a correspondent with the broadcaster Mohona TV, Elias Bosunia, a correspondent with the broadcaster Bangla TV, Minaj Islam, a correspondent with the newspaper Daily Vorer Chetona, and Hazrat Ali, a correspondent with the newspaper Dainik Dabanol.

CPJ stated that the perpetrators were led by the nephews of the incumbent parliamentarian of the seat.

CPJ said 25 men cornered Sirajul Islam Rubel and Arafat Rahaman, journalists of The Daily Star, as they tried to leave a polling station in Dhaka after covering an alleged ballot stuffing attempt by AL supporters.

The men grabbed the journalists' phones, deleted their video footage and photos of the incident, and blocked their exit from the centre along with The Daily Star reporter Dipan Nandy.

Around 2:45 pm, 20 to 25 men beat Prothom Alo corresponcent Mosharrof Shah after he photographed and filmed alleged ballot stuffing by AL supporters at a polling station in Chattogram, said CPJ.

Shah told CPJ that while speaking to an electoral officer about the incident, the men approached the journalist, took his notebook where he wrote what he observed, and deleted footage from his mobile phone in the presence of police.

The men repeatedly slapped and punched Shah before he managed to flee the scene after around 30 minutes

Shah told CPJ that one of the perpetrators was Nurul Absar, general secretary of a local unit of the Chhatra League.

A around 4:00pm, a group of 20 to 30 men surrounded and assaulted Saif Bin Ayub, a sub-editor for the Daily Kalbela newspaper, and took his laptop, phone, other personal items while he was photographing alleged ballot stuffing by AL supporters inside a polling centre in Dhaka.

CPJ reported that the men also beat him. The perpetrators then dragged him out of the building as he requested help from police present at the scene.

Officers did not intervene and the beating continued outside for around 15 minutes, the journalist said, adding that he received his phone and broken laptop back later that day but not his wallet and other items.

At around 4:30pm, around eight to 10 men -- including electoral officials and teenagers wearing AL badges -- pushed Sam Jahan, a Reuters video journalist, out of a vote counting room in a polling station in Dhaka.

Two of the teenagers then chased Jahan out of the station, he told CPJ.

Four journalists with the New Age newspaper also reported being cornered by AL men during their coverage of a polling station in Dhaka.

CPJ said that unidentified perpetrators pelted bricks at Mohiuddin Modhu, a news presenter and correspondent for Jamuna Television, after the journalist tried to speak to a young teenager who attempted to cast a ballot in Dhaka's Nawabganj.