878 journalists targeted under Bangladesh Interim govt; 230 pc rise in attacks: Rights body

New Delhi: New Delhi-based rights group — Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) — on Monday claimed that 878 journalists were targeted over the past year under the interim government of Bangladesh, led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus.

The RRAG in its report titled, ‘Bangladesh: Media Freedom Murdered By Dr Muhammad Yunus’ stated that attacks on journalists increased by 230 per cent over the past year, compared to 383 cases reported under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina between August 2023 and July 2024.

The RRAG report, released on Monday on the occasion of one year of the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, stated that Press freedom in Bangladesh has deteriorated further and 878 journalists were attacked under the interim government from August 2024 to July 2025, an increase by about 230 per cent.

Giving further details of the attacks on the journalists in Bangladesh, RRAG Director Suhas Chakma stated, “The number of criminal cases filed against journalists under the Yunus regime (195 cases) during 2024-2025 increased by 558 per cent in comparison to the number of cases (35 cases) filed against journalists under Hasina during 2023-2024.

“While Hasina’s regime was not known to have denied any accreditation to journalists, Yunus used accreditation as an instrument to punish the journalists allegedly associated with the previous regime and denied accreditation to 167 media persons.

“During 2023-2024, Hasina’s regime was not known to have used the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), anti-money laundering agency of the country, against the journalists but Yunus let loose the BFIU which issued notices to 107 journalists,” Chakma said.

He said that while 348 media persons faced acts of violence and criminal intimidation under Sheikh Hasina’s regime, mostly during the July 2024 uprising, about 431 journalists faced acts of violence and criminal intimidation under Yunus’ tenure.

The RRAG report said that the situation of the media continues to deteriorate under the interim government of Bangladesh led by Yunus.

On June 25 (2025), journalist Khandaker Shah Alam, a correspondent of Daily Matrijagat, was murdered at Nabinagar Upazila, in Dhaka’s northeast, in a targeted retaliation by Babul Mia, known locally as ‘Tiger Babul Dakat’ after he was released from prison, the report said.

According to the report, on July 27 (2025), the Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka issued arrest warrants against three journalists, Bangladesh Pratidin Editor Naem Nizam, its publisher Moynal Hossain Chowdhury and news portal Bangla Insider’s Chief Editor Syed Borhan Kabir under the Digital Security Act (DSA) despite a declaration by Law Adviser Asif Nazrul on June 27 (2025) that all cases under the DSA had been withdrawn.

On April 21 (2025), Kongkon Karmaker was dismissed by The Daily Star as Dinajpur correspondent only because his report about the death of religious minority Bhabesh Chandra Roy was picked up by multiple Indian media outlets and India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the report added.

RRAG Director Chakma said that in order to silence the media, Yunus established ‘CA Press Wing Facts’ as the de facto censorship authority by other means, the manufacturer of the government version of the truth, and to intimidate media houses and NGOs including the Rights & Risks Analysis Group, through disinformation.

The RRAG stated that it would approach the international community including the Human Rights (Joint Committee) of the United Kingdom seeking review support to the interim government of Bangladesh on governance issues and consider withdrawing bilateral support in the light of the absolute silencing of the media in the country.

IANS