End impunity, uphold press freedom

The Daily Star joins the freedom-loving world today in observing the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. We do so because we strongly believe that without a free and independent media, democracy cannot be established, the freedom of individuals and communities cannot be ensured, abuses of human rights will go unreported and unpunished, and we will never have an accountable government. This, in turn, will perpetuate the culture of impunity, for justice itself cannot be established in any society without a free press.

According to UNESCO, over the past 19 years, since 2006, 1,800 journalists have been killed worldwide. Regrettably, "nine out of ten cases of these killings remain judicially unresolved", says the UN body.

Most recently, Israel has deliberately, recklessly, and vindictively killed more than 270 Palestinian journalists covering the genocide in Gaza, according to figures from Reporters Without Borders. They did so with complete impunity -- without the due condemnation such crimes demand from the United Nations, the international community, or the democratic nations of the world. Most distressingly, the global community of journalists has not raised its voice of protest as loudly or as persistently as these horrific killings warranted.

While Sheikh Hasina insulted the nation by subjecting it to an unparalleled level of oppression, the present interim government has inflicted another kind of humiliation on us by allowing the largest-ever judicial harassment of journalists in our history.

While 18 journalists were arrested without any specific charges, the more acutely embarrassing reality is that at least 296 journalists have been implicated in unsubstantiated criminal cases, many of them for murder.

As a newspaper that takes pride in independent and ethical journalism and champions the rights of journalists, we find it deeply troubling that Bangladesh appears to have one of the highest numbers of journalists accused in murder cases in recent times.

The law minister has said that the government cannot prevent anyone from filing a case. We ask in response: even when it is clear that the law is being abused? We believe the authorities could easily have investigated and found that many of these cases would be extremely difficult to prove. There may well have been instances of partisan journalism and even corruption, for which those involved could have been properly tried and punished under appropriate laws. But murder?

A year ago, on October 7, 2024, the government set up a committee, led by an additional secretary of the information ministry, to monitor cases of harassment against journalists. On October 27 last year, the government called upon journalists to submit information with proof of harassment. This committee took note of 72 cases and forwarded them to the home ministry for action.

At a meeting on September 28, 2025, the current Information Adviser, Mahfuj Alam, said, "Even if one journalist is a victim of a retaliatory case, we have to protest against it. We have found 72 journalists facing such cases; our ministry has nothing to do with it, so we have submitted the list to the home ministry for further inquiry."

That is where it stands now -- 13 months since the initiative began. The law ministry issued an ordinance this year empowering the police to remove the name of any accused if a preliminary investigation found no evidence against them. Previously, such action required a magistrate's approval. Yet, none of the journalists accused have benefited from this measure.

By publishing this special supplement today, we want to reiterate this fundamental truth: if we want to build a democratic society, if our leaders truly wish to establish an accountable and transparent government and if our political parties believe in a just society and one that is governed by law and not by dictated by it, then an independent, ethical and free media is a precondition. We are promised freedom, but have to suffer harassment, humiliation, confinement and incarceration in every era. Sadly, even the July charter fails to safeguard press freedom in clear terms.