A special tribunal in Bangladesh’s capital has ordered that three journalists remain jailed until their trial in a case related to a mass uprising that led to the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024. Mozammel Babu, editor-in-chief of Ekattor Television, his principal correspondent Farzana Rupa, and Shyamal Dutta, editor of the daily Bhorer Kagoj and former general secretary of the National Press Club in Dhaka, are among those held.
During the student-led uprising, hundreds of people were killed, and Hasina was later sentenced to death on charges of crimes against humanity. She fled to India two years ago and was tried in absentia. The tribunal has scheduled the next court proceedings for Oct. 25 and has requested investigators to submit their findings against the journalists.
Global human rights organizations have criticized the detention of the journalists and the denial of bail, urging the government to drop the charges and cease the criminalization of news reporting. Prosecutors allege that the three journalists incited the suppression of student demonstrators during the uprising. They claim the journalists asked Hasina provocative questions at a press conference on July 14, 2024, which prompted disparaging remarks about the demonstrators, leading to a violent crackdown resulting in hundreds of deaths.
The three journalists have been in custody for years following Hasina’s removal from office, facing various charges including murder related to the July-August 2024 uprising. They were arrested during an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, which transferred power to the current government in February.
The families of the journalists have stated that their detention is illegal. Kunal Majumder, CPJ’s Asia-Pacific Program Coordinator, described the situation as "outrageous and deeply troubling," adding that "editorial decisions may be partisan or ethically questionable, but they cannot be criminalized."
Hasina has been in India since Aug. 5, 2024, but has recently indicated plans to return to Bangladesh in December. The administration of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, along with the Yunus-led government, had requested Hasina's extradition from India, but the request was denied.