Scrapping of accreditation cards threat to press freedom

Editors' Council have expressed concern over the recent cancellation of press accreditation cards of 167 journalists.

The council in a statement yesterday said the organisation and its members were worried about the scrapping of the accreditation cards of many professional and active journalists and editors.

The platform believes that the information ministry has the right to review any misuse of the accreditation cards. But such a step of wholesale cancellation without any proof to support specific allegations or evidence of wrongdoing are a threat to press freedom and an obstacle to ensuring a democratic environment, read the statement signed by its President Mahfuz Anam and General Secretary Dewan Hanif Mahmud.

These steps risk fostering a climate of exerting control, including censorship, over the media, which also contradict the main spirit of the July-August uprising, it added.

According to the council, it sees the move as a repetition of the undemocratic practices of the previous authoritarian structure.

Given the circumstances, the Editors' Council has urged the information ministry not to take such wholesale action without specific allegations and proof of wrongdoings. It also called upon the ministry to take steps to stop all kinds of attacks on the media and to ensure independent and democratic journalism.