"Contempt of court and criminal defamation must not be used as instruments to silence journalists from exposing the truth," said IFJ President Christopher Warren.

An IFJ media release said the High Court on March 21 convicted seven journalists on charge of contempt of court for exposing the alleged fake qualifications of an HC judge. One journalist was sentenced to prison and six others were fined.

The convicted journalists are Matiur Rahman, editor, Mahfuz Anam, publisher, and Enamul Haq Bulbul and Masud Milad, reporters, of the Prothom Alo, and Abed Khan, former editor, and Saber Hossain Chowdhury, publisher, and Samaresh Baidya, reporter and columnist, of the Bhorer Kagoj.

A front-page report run by the Prothom Alo and Bhorer Kagoj on 30 October last year prompted the contempt case. The report was on HC Additional Judge Faisal Mahmud Faizee's alleged tampering with his LLB result.

The newspapers have however stood by their stance and planned to appeal in the Supreme Court against the HC rule.

"We extend our solidarity to our Bangladeshi colleagues in their struggle for press freedom. There is urgent need for reform in defamation and contempt of court laws so that the judiciary is also held accountable," said Warren.

The verdict is of greater concern as came in the wake of a growing wave of violence against journalists in Bangladesh, the release said. It mentioned the February 5 bombing on Khulna Press Club that killed journalist Sheikh Belaluddin of the daily Sangram.

It also mentioned the string of death threats against journalists in the towns of Satkhira and Lalmonirhat and the brutal February 23 beating of Al-Mamun Sagar, local correspondent for the daily Jugantor.

"The failure of the government to bring the perpetrators to justice and allowing violence against the press to go unpunished heighten the crisis in the media in Bangladesh," Warren added.