Bangladesh War Crimes Tribunal Issues Fresh Warrants for 3 Journalists
The International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh has issued fresh warrants for three journalists, Shyamal Dutta, Mozammel Babu, and Farzana Rupa, over their questions at a press conference.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Bangladeshi authorities to drop a new case against three journalists who were detained in 2024 on separate charges.
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh has ordered the prison authorities to produce the journalists, Shyamal Dutta, Mozammel Babu, and Farzana Rupa, before the domestic war crimes court on August 24. The journalists have been detained since 2024 on separate charges.
Prosecutors allege that the journalists incited the suppression of student demonstrators during a July 2024 uprising that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. They claim that the journalists asked Hasina provocative questions at a press conference on July 14, 2024, which led her to make disparaging remarks about the demonstrators before launching a bloody crackdown.
The CPJ has expressed its deep concern over the new case, stating that launching a crimes-against-humanity case against journalists for simply asking questions at a press conference is outrageous and deeply troubling. The CPJ believes that editorial decisions may be partisan or ethically questionable, but they cannot be criminalized.
The CPJ has also pointed out that criminalizing editorial judgment sets a dangerous precedent and undermines Bangladesh's reputation as a democracy. The organization has called on the authorities to immediately release the three journalists and drop the charges.
The journalists, Babu and Rupa, were arrested in May this year in a separate ICT case over the 2013 security crackdown on Hefajat-e-Islam activists at Shapla Chatta. They were named in a formal charge sheet on July 27 alongside Hasina and 39 others. Dutta, editor of the privately owned Bhorer Kagoj and a former general secretary of the Jatiya Press Club, has been detained since September 2024 and faces multiple murder cases in retaliation for his journalism.
If found guilty, the journalists could face the death penalty because the ICT does not have sentencing guidelines for specific offenses. The CPJ has urged the authorities to drop the charges and release the journalists immediately.
The CPJ has also pointed out that the ICT was founded in 2010 under a 1973 law to try crimes committed during Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War. However, the tribunal has been reconstituted and the law amended to prosecute figures linked to the Awami League government, including Hasina.
Bangladesh's Ministry of Law and the Office of the Chief Prosecutor did not reply to the CPJ's emailed request for comment.
## The Case Against the Journalists
The prosecutors allege that the journalists incited the suppression of student demonstrators during a July 2024 uprising that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. They claim that the journalists asked Hasina provocative questions at a press conference on July 14, 2024, which led her to make disparaging remarks about the demonstrators before launching a bloody crackdown.
## The CPJ's Response
The CPJ has expressed its deep concern over the new case, stating that launching a crimes-against-humanity case against journalists for simply asking questions at a press conference is outrageous and deeply troubling. The CPJ believes that editorial decisions may be partisan or ethically questionable, but they cannot be criminalized.
## The Journalists' Detention
The journalists, Babu and Rupa, were arrested in May this year in a separate ICT case over the 2013 security crackdown on Hefajat-e-Islam activists at Shapla Chatta. They were named in a formal charge sheet on July 27 alongside Hasina and 39 others. Dutta, editor of the privately owned Bhorer Kagoj and a former general secretary of the Jatiya Press Club, has been detained since September 2024 and faces multiple murder cases in retaliation for his journalism.
## The ICT and the Law
The ICT was founded in 2010 under a 1973 law to try crimes committed during Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War. However, the tribunal has been reconstituted and the law amended to prosecute figures linked to the Awami League government, including Hasina. If found guilty, the journalists could face the death penalty because the ICT does not have sentencing guidelines for specific offenses.
## The Ministry's Response
Bangladesh's Ministry of Law and the Office of the Chief Prosecutor did not reply to the CPJ's emailed request for comment.
