Amnesty concerned over increasing intimidation of Prothom Alo

Expressing concern over the recent development centring daily Prothom Alo, Amnesty International on Wednesday said the media platform came under increasing attack including intimidation, harassment and arrest of journalists signalling a deepening crisis for press freedom in the country.

The human rights organisation also mentioned the arrest of Prothom Alo journalist Shamsuzzaman Shams in a case under the Digital Security Act (DSA) and the lawsuit against Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman under the same law.

It also voiced concern over the incident of barging into Prothom Alo's office by a group of individuals who vandalised the newspaper's logo and wrote 'boycott' over it.

"This is the latest in a series of attacks by the government of Bangladesh threatening press freedom in the country. Penalizing a media outlet, publisher or journalist solely for being critical of the government or the policies it promotes is a restriction of the right to freedom of expression that can never be justified. The attacks on Prothom Alo which has the largest daily circulation come close on the heels of the closure of Daily Dinkal, the only newspaper belonging to the main opposition party last month," said Yamini Mishra, regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International.

She said, "The use of the draconian Digital Security Act on journalists and attacks on some of the largest news publications in the country together indicate a worrying trend towards repression and a downward spiral of the right to freedom of expression in Bangladesh."