Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the culprits involved in inhuman torture on journalists on October 28 would not be spared. "The country had witnessed a lot of movements and struggles. But, journalists were not targeted any time. The attacks were attempted to murder as the attackers hit heads of journalists. I have no word to regret it," she said. The prime minister made the remarks as a group of journalists injured in the gruesome attack on October 28 last, met her at her official residence Ganabhaban here this morning. She said they who were involved in such heinous acts will not get over. Source : BSS "The culprits will have to be brought to justice by reviewing the pictures and video footages of the incidents," she said. The premier said attacks were also carried out on the house of the chief justice, judge's quarter and on duty police personnel. "There is no instance of launching attack on the house of the chief justice before," she said. She added: "The order givers (of such heinous acts) must have to face the music”. Sheikh Hasina asked the countrymen to be alert as conspiracies are being hatched at home and abroad to thwart the upcoming general election. At the outset of the function, the prime minister inquired about the health of the injured journalists. PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim gave the address of welcome. Jatiya Press Club General Secretary Shyamal Dutta moderated the function while Editor-in-chief of Ekattor TV and president of the Editors Guild, Bangladesh, Mozammel Babu and Head of News of Ekattor TV Shakil Ahmed also spoke. Senior journalists from different media houses were present on the occasion. A video documentary on October 28 last mayhem based on the statements of the injured journalists describing the inhuman torture they went through was screened at the function.

Minnie Chan has reportedly been out of contact since travelling to Xiangshan Forum a month ago. Friends and colleagues of a Hong Kong journalist have raised concerns after she failed to return from a defence and security forum in Beijing a month ago. Minnie Chan, a reporter for the South China Morning Post, has not been in contact since she went to the Xiangshan Forum, Japan’s Kyodo News reported on Thursday. Chan filed several stories from the forum, the most recent of which was published on 2 November. Kyodo News reported that her friends, whom it did not name, were concerned she was under investigation. The Guardian understands colleagues at the South China Morning Post have also made inquiries to their editors about her whereabouts. In a statement, the South China Morning Post said Chan had taken “personal leave”. “Her family has informed us that she is in Beijing but needs time to handle a private matter. Her family has told us she is safe but has requested that we respect her privacy. We are in contact with Minnie’s family and we have no further information to disclose,” it told the Guardian. “The safety of our journalists in the course of their professional work is of the utmost importance to the South China Morning Post. This has always been our principle. We will continue to communicate with Minnie’s family and provide all the necessary support they need. The Post’s operations and news coverage remain unaffected.” Chan last posted on X on 20 October. Her personal Facebook page shows photos were posted on 11 November, but the comments beneath it contain a claim from a friend, Andrei Pinkov, that she did not post it. Pinkov, who has been contacted by the Guardian, has posted several comments on her page, asking where she is. The Hong Kong Journalists Association on Friday expressed its concern over the reports. “The Hong Kong Journalists Association is deeply concerned for Minnie’s safety and is requesting more information from the SCMP,” it said, asking Chan’s friends or relatives to contact the association if they had information about her whereabouts or needed assistance. Chan has worked for the paper for 18 years, according to her LinkedIn profile. She previously worked at the Apple Daily, which was forced to close after a Hong Kong government crackdown, and the Chinese Phoenix Satellite TV station. The South China Morning Post is owned by the Chinese company Alibaba Holdings. It is the largest English-language newspaper in Hong Kong, which still allows greater press freedom than in mainland China. However, conditions have worsened since the introduction of the national security law in 2020.   Source: The Guardian

An Islamabad district and sessions court on Friday remanded journalist Muhammad Khalid Jamil in the custody of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for two days, Pakistan-based Dawn reported. The development comes after Jamil's arrest on Thursday night.  According to FIA, Khalid Jamil was detained on charges of spreading a "provocative narrative" against state institutions through his posts on social media. ABN News, the TV Channel with which Jamil is affiliated confirmed his arrest in a post shared on X. The first information report lodged by the agency said the accused was "found sharing and propagating highly intimidating content/tweets on social media/Twitter" (now X), Dawn reported. The FIR invoked Section 20 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), which states: "Whoever intentionally and publicly exhibits or displays or transmits any information through any information system, which he knows to be false, and intimidates or harms the reputation or privacy of a natural person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to one million rupees or with both," Dawn reported. In addition, the FIR included Section 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The FIR said, "The accused had knowingly misinterpreted and disseminated anti-state narrative by sharing false misleading and baseless information which are also likely to cause fear in the public and may incite anyone to commit an offence against the state or the state institution or public tranquillity." The agency further said that the "accused persons including Muhammad Khalid Jamil propagated, promoted and glorified anti-state, provocative and hatred narrative against the state institutions." The FIA did not reveal details regarding other individuals involved in the alleged crime, according to Dawn report. The agency called such intimidating content of blaming and naming through social media accounts a mischievous act of subversion to create a rift between the general public and state institutions to "harm the state of Pakistan". It further said that the accused through such intimidating content including videos "attempted to provoke the general public against the state institutions including judiciary, by trying to create a feeling of ill-will among pillars of the state." The journalist community has condemned the arrest of Khalid Jamil. They have called for an explanation for the action taken by the agency. Journalist Maria Memon expressed concern over the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) swift action in Jamil's case. Menon spoke about the agency's inconsistency in their response to other online harassment cases. Meanwhile, journalist Nusrat Javeed in a post shared on X stated, "Just got the news that @khalidjamil had been arrested by FIA.  He had been a colleague of mine at @AajTv. Always found him extraordinarily soft and polite. Wonder how could he provoke trouble 4 him. The government surely needs a flawlessly credible story to defend his arrest."

A Myanmar photojournalist working for independent outlet Myanmar Now has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by the country's military authorities, his employer said on Wednesday.  Sai Zaw Thaike has been under arrest since May, when he was reporting on the consequences of Cyclone Mocha. The storm killed more than 140 people in the coastal areas of Myanmar and Bangladesh, many of whom belonged to the persecuted Rohingya minority and were living in refugee camps. What are the charges against Sai Zaw Thaike? It is not yet clear, on what charges the journalist was convicted. Following his arrest in May, he had faced charges under four different laws, including a natural disaster law and a telecommunications law. Journalists at Myanmar Now voiced their criticism. "His sentencing is yet another indication that freedom of the press has been completely quashed under the military junta's rule," editor-in-chief Swe Win said in a statement. Myanmar Now describes itself as an independent news agency working underground to evade repression by the military junta. ASEAN, US condemn violence in Myanmar Myanmar's military, already a key player in ruling the country, seized complete control in a coup against the government led by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party in 2021, and has been cracking down on civil society since. Reports on the conviction of the journalist came just a day after leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) discussed Myanmar's political crisis at their annual summit meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia. Myanmar is a member of ASEAN but has not been invited to the regional meeting for the second year in a row. In a joint statement on Tuesday, ASEAN members "urge the Myanmar Armed Forces in particular, and all related parties concerned in Myanmar to de-escalate violence and stop targeted attacks on civilians, houses and public facilities, such as schools, hospitals, markets." US Vice President Kamala Harris weighed in in support of the statement. "The United States will continue to press the regime to end the horrific violence to release all those unjustly detained, and to re-establish Myanmar's path to inclusive democracy," she told ASEAN summit in Jakarta on Wednesday. One of the deadliest countries for journalists Myanmar is one of the world's most dangerous places for journalists according to advocacy groups. Activists at the Detained Journalist Group report that over 150 journalists have been arrested, and four media workers have lost their lives since the coup. Myanmar's military leadership has yet to comment on the sentencing of Sai Zaw Thaike, but has rejected the ASEAN nations' joint statement, saying: "The reviews are not objective and decisions are bias and one-sided."

Data from Reporters Without Borders shows that 150 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000. In 2022 alone, 13 members of the press were killed there. Nelson Matus, a Mexican crime journalist, was shot dead in the parking lot of a store on Saturday in the tourist town of Acapulco, regional officials said. The killing marks the second death of a working journalist within a week in what is known to be the most deadly country for members of the press. Luis Martin Sanchez, a journalist for the Mexican newspaper La Jornada, was found dead on July 8 "with signs of violence" after going missing in the state of Nayarit. About the incident Matus, who was the director of a local news outlet called Lo Real de Guerrero, was shot as he was getting into his car in a thrift store parking lot. According to police reports, officers received a call shortly after 3 p.m., informing them of the incident. Paramedics arrived at the scene to find Matus' lifeless body, which was identified with his belongings. The area was then cordoned off. The Attorney General's Office of the coastal state of Guerrero initiated an investigation for aggravated homicide. In a statement, it said that it "reiterates its commitment to exhaust every line of investigation" into Matus' death. In a 15-year-long career, Matus largely covered "red news" — a genre of journalism in Mexico that focuses on crime, violence and disasters, according to Balbina Flores, the Mexico delegate for Reporters Without Borders (RSF). His most recent report, published on Saturday, was about the discovery of "human remains in black bags (...) next to the La Palapa hotel" in the city.   No safe place for journalists The killings of Lo Real de Guerrero's Matus and La Jornada's Sanchez are only the most recent in a long string of violence, kidnappings and threats against members of the press. Data from RSF shows that 150 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000. Just in 2022, 13 journalists were killed in country, according to government data. Sanchez was one of three journalists who had been abducted in the western state of Nayarit, according to the prosecutor's office. While he was found dead with messages pinned to his chest, another former journalist was abducted from his home in the town of Xalisco earlier this month. The third journalist was found alive. Leftist newspaper La Jornada lost two of its most widely known reporters — Miroslava Breach and Javier Valdez — in a matter of months in 2017. The Federation of Journalists of Acapulco and the Association of Police Information Reporters in Guerrero condemned the murder and demanded a thorough investigation which culminates in punishment. 

RTV senior sub-editor Abul Hasan's son Tashfin Ahnaf died on Friday. He was 6.  First, he was admitted to a local hospital in Narayanganj. As his condition did not improve, he was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital last Thursday (July 13).  The relatives of the deceased said that Tashfin Ahnaf's blood platelets were suddenly decreasing. After that, he was taken to the ICU. Then, the doctor declared him dead around 4 pm. Managing Director (MD) of RTV, Humayun Kabir Bablu expressed his deep grief over Tashfin Ahnaf's death. He said, "I can't believe it. I don't know what to say right now. I am very sorry to hear about this. Asking Allah for forgiveness of the departed soul. My prayers and condolences for the family of Abul Hasan in this difficult time." Then, He asked to all to give the importance to this situation . Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of RTV, Syed Ashik Rahman said, "This is unbearably heartbreaking news. It is very difficult to express my grief over this incident, as I myself am a father of a child of about the same age. May Allah grant Abul Hasan's family Tawfik to bear this irreparable loss and difficult times. I pray for his child's forgiveness. Of course his angelic little baby will always have my prayers."  

A journalist for one of Mexico's top newspapers has been found dead in the western state of Nayarit, La Jornada said on Saturday. "A body found in the village of Huachines... in the municipality of Tepic was identified as Luis Martin Sanchez Iniguez, 59 years old, correspondent for La Jornada," the newspaper said on its website. 'Signs of violence' on body Sanchez Iniguez had been missing since Wednesday and his wife filed a missing persons report with Mexican authorities on Friday. He was last seen in Xalisco, a Nayarit town that has long been linked to the smuggling of heroin and opium. The prosecutor's office said on Saturday that relatives identified the body, which had been dead for at least one or two days. "The body was found with signs of violence, and two handwritten signs were found on it," prosecutors said in a statement. Authorities did not reveal what the messages said, but such notes are frequently left by drug cartels with the bodies of victims. The prosecutor's office said the motive in the killing was still under investigation. Journalists under attack in Mexico La Jornada correspondents have been targeted in the past, including Miroslava Breach, who was murdered in Chihuahua in March 2017, and Javier Valdez, who was murdered in Sinaloa in May of the same year.  The murders are part of a wider spate of violence against journalists in Mexico which has spiked under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Press-related killings have increased 85% in the first half of his term compared to that of his predecessor. Meanwhile, 2022 was among the deadliest ever for Mexican media workers, with 15 killed. If police confirm Sanchez Iniguez was murdered, he would be at least the second journalist to be killed in Mexico this year. In February, news photographer Jose Ramiro Araujo was stabbed and beaten to death in the northern Mexico border state of Baja California.

The Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) has expressed deep concern over the killing of journalist Golam Rabbani Nadeem, the correspondent of Banglanews24.com from Jamalpur district, and the correspondent of Ekattor TV from Bakshiganj Upazila. On Thursday, June 22, in a statement sent to the media, the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) remarked this concern.  The Embassies/High Commissions of Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and the United States signed the statement. The statement mentioned, "We, the undersigned members of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) in Bangladesh, are deeply concerned at the deadly June 15 attack on Golam Rabbani Nadeem, the Jamalpur district correspondent of BanglaNews24.com and the Bakshiganj upazila correspondent of Ekattor TV.   We offer our sincerest condolences to his family and friends.  We are encouraged to learn that authorities have taken action by arresting the suspected perpetrators of the killing and by initiating legal proceedings.   Journalists play a vital role in asking difficult questions, reporting the facts, and promoting the free flow of ideas.   The Media Freedom Coalition calls on all in positions of influence in Bangladeshi society to speak up for press freedom, the right of journalists to work without fear of retribution or harm, and the need to hold to account those responsible for attacks on journalists."

The court has granted bail to Prothom Alo journalist Shamsuzzaman on a bond of Tk. 20,000 in the Digital Security Act case. On Monday, April 3, Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Noor gave this order after the court's bail hearing.  On this day, Proshanto Kumar Karmakar, the lawyer of the accused, asked for bail.  The state's Public Prosecutor Abdullah Abu Jamin opposed. After hearing both parties, the court granted his bail.

A Dhaka court on Thursday sent Prothom Alo reporter Shamsuzzaman Shams to jail in a case filed under the Digital Security Act after rejecting his bail petition. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Dhaka Md Tofazzal Hossain turned down the bail petition. Earlier, Ramna Model Police Station Inspector Abu Ansar, also investigating officer of the case, requested the court for sending him to jail when Shams was produced before the court. Proshanto Kumar Karmakar, lawyer of Shamsuzzaman, appeared for the bail plea. On March 29, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) men in plainclothes picked up Shams from his residence in Ambagan area, adjacent to Jahangirnagar University, around 4:30 am. The same day, a Jubo League leader filed a case under the Digital Security Act against Shams, accusing him of publishing a "false and fabricated report" in the daily Prothom Alo.