A report in this paper on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day paints a worrisome picture. So far, 266 journalists face criminal cases, such as murder, attempt to murder, or assault. The bulk of these cases are related to the Awami League (AL) government's brutal clampdown on the student-led July-August uprising. The indiscriminate filing of criminal cases against journalists, along with other people perceived to be supporters of the AL, is a serious blow to press freedom and a violation of people's constitutional rights.

Many journalists are being lumped together with those who were directly responsible for ordering the shooting of protesters or being involved in the murders during the July-August uprising, which indicates that these cases have been filed due to personal and political vendettas. According to a report by this daily, only about 50 of the journalists prosecuted were politically aligned with the AL or benefitted from the regime. The majority were victims of retaliatory cases.

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Government must do more to ensure press freedom

Many of the cases are against journalists working in districts other than Dhaka. In Brahmanbaria, for instance, retaliatory cases were filed against 16 journalists centring on crimes committed during the July-August movement and the protests during India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh in March 2021. A murder case has been filed against 14 journalists on allegations of electrocuting a boy to death. One journalist has been accused of intentionally connecting live wires to the bamboo and electric poles on the streets where the protests took place, leading to the student's death. The same journalist had previously been arrested during the AL regime under the Digital Security Act for his reporting on the 2018 national election and had to fight the case for two years.

These examples show the arbitrariness of these cases and the fact that the police readily accepted them regardless of how flimsy the premises were. The law adviser has said that the government cannot prevent anyone from filing a case, though the government has previously said that it will take legal action against individuals filing false cases and harassing people with lawsuits. No action was taken in this regard. The ground reality is that these cases continue against journalists and others. The government must show that it is serious about taking action against those individuals filing cases that are false and retaliatory. This is nothing but harassing journalists and creating an atmosphere of intimidation and fear.

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Government must make itself available to questions from the press

Some journalists did play a partisan role and even went to the extent of tacitly supporting the AL regime's crackdown on protesters. Their roles should be clearly identified. But can they be held as liable for murder in the same way as those who were directly involved? Moreover, if justice is to be delivered, it is imperative that the cases against those who are in jail, some of them for many months, are disposed of through due process and without any kind of external influence. So far nothing has been done about these cases and those journalists are rotting in jail.

According to this year's Press Freedom Index, Bangladesh has moved up 16 notches and is ahead of India and Pakistan. Being 149th (from 165) in the world rankings does indicate progress but it is not something to write home about, especially when journalists continue to be haunted by retaliatory criminal cases.