Dhaka: Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) of Bangladesh has expressed concern about recent reports of “violence against and intimidation of” journalists.
“We, members of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) in Bangladesh, are concerned about recent reports of violence against and intimidation of journalists, including violence directed at reporters covering the Supreme Court elections, an assault on the brother of a London-based journalist for Al Jazeera, the attack of a Dhaka Tribune photojournalist, and the recent reported detention of a Prothom Alo journalist,” said a statement today.
The coalition called on the authorities to investigate the incidents “promptly and impartially”. The statement was signed by representatives from Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Media Freedom Coalition is a cross-regional partnership of countries working together to advocate for media freedom, both online and offline.
The MFC advocates for the safety of journalists and media workers and holds to account those who harm journalists and severely restrict them from doing their job.
The Diplomatic Network Initiative is composed of members from around the world. The diplomatic missions of MFC member states are able to closely monitor the media freedom situation in the countries where they are based and take a range of collective actions to protect and advance media freedom.
The MFC was established in July 2019 at the Global Conference for Media Freedom and now comprises over 50 member states from six continents.
