M Mushfiqul Fazal
Freedom of expression, including for members of the press, is an essential element of democracy and is especially important in an election year, Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the US Department of State, has said.
“No members of the press should be threatened, harassed, physically attacked, or arrested for simply doing their job”, said Vedant Patel while replying to a question on ongoing intimidation and harassment of journalists in Bangladesh at a briefing at the State Department on Thursday.
In the briefing, State Department correspondent M Mushfiqul Fazal asked, “On Bangladesh, freedom of expression and freedom of press is very much controlled by the regime and the regime is zero-tolerance on it. And we have already seen, including the United States, 12 countries criticized the government position on freedom of expression as they are filing one after another cases under the Digital Security Act. Just yesterday the security forces in plain clothes picked up – widely circulated Bengali newspaper Prothom Alo’s reporter Shamsuzzaman Shams. He picked up and they filed cases against the editor of Prothom Alo, and earlier March one reporter, he is working for Al Jazeera, his brother under attack. So what is your comment on that as the regime is very much critical and attacking freedom of expression in Bangladesh?”
In reply, Patel said, “So broadly, what I would say is we remain deeply concerned about the government’s use of the Digital Security Act. And freedom of expression, including for members of the press, is an essential element of democracy and is especially important in an election year. No members of the press should be threatened, harassed, physically attacked, or arrested for simply doing their job.”
Mentioning about 40 global leaders’ deep concern for the well-being of the Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and their open letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, this correspondent asked, “Forty global leaders expressed their deep concern for the well-being of the Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. They wrote an open letter to the prime minister and it’s published in The Washington Post, including the Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and the former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. So what is your position as the government is very much attacking on the Nobel Laureate Professor Yunus, filing cases one after another?”
In reply, the Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the US Department of State, said, “We’re aware of the recent letter in The Post expressing concern over Professor Yunus’s situation, and we share the signatories’ views that Professor Yunus has made significant contributions to the alleviation of poverty around the world, as is reflected in his Nobel Peace Prize and numerous other international honors. But I don’t have any other specifics to offer right now.”
MN/
