Attorney general of Bangladesh Md Asaduzzaman on Monday said that the state had many provisions in its hand to repress journalists, and the repeal of a particular law could not stop such coercion if its mindset was not changed.
Addressing the launching of a research report examining 鈥榯he impact of the Digital Security Act on media freedom in Bangladesh and the lessons the country must draw for the future鈥� on the sidelines of the three-day Bay of Bengal Conversation, he said that the repeal of the Digital Security Act 2018 alone would not ensure the protection of journalists.
Underlining the need for a change in the mindset of the state to end this trend, he hoped that the next elected government would step away from all forms of repressive laws and would not return to legislation like the Digital Security Act, later replaced with the Cyber Security Act amid massive criticism during the authoritarian regime of Sheikh Haisna.
Referring to the Special Powers Act, 1974, he said the Weekly Holiday editor Enayetullah Khan was the first journalist who was arrested and sent to jail under the law in 1975.
The non-government think tank Centre for Governance Studies and the non-profit organisation Clooney Foundation for Justice published the research report.
The study analysed 222 cases involving 396 journalists to show how the DSA was used to criminalise journalism and criticism.
In addition, interviews were conducted with 30 journalists to gather firsthand accounts of the law鈥檚 application and its consequences.
According to the findings, the ruling authorities used the DSA as a tool to harass and intimidate journalists.
Politicians, who filed 73 out of the 222 cases, along with other influential individuals, frequently used the law to pursue personal vendettas or to abuse their power.
Senior Supreme Court lawyer Sara Hossain said that the DSA cases against journalists were never filed with the intention of being taken to trial.
鈥楾heir purpose was to stop journalists from speaking and writing freely,鈥� she added, saying that Bangladesh had come out of 鈥榯he dark age鈥�, but it was not now in a 鈥榞olden age鈥�.
Maneka Khanna, senior legal programme manager at the Clooney Foundation for Justice, and Sazzad Siddiqi, professor and chairman of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Dhaka, also spoke at the event moderated by Roman Uddin, research associate at CGS.
The CGS organised the fourth Bay of Bengal Conversation that concluded on Monday at a city hotel.
