Journalists formed a human chain in protest of a Digital Security Act (DSA) case filed against RTV reporter Adhora Yeasmein for exposing alleged crimes by the conservative Islamic organization Rajarbagh Darbar Sharif.
Leaders of the Dhaka Union of Journalists, Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), and Bangladesh Crime Reporters Association organized the human chain at Dhaka's Karwan Bazar on Friday.
They demanded the repeal of the DSA, saying the law is being used to harass journalists and suppress the freedom of media.
Dhaka Union of Journalists President Sohel Haider Chowdhury said: “We see lawsuits every time there is talk of amending the DSA. We want the case against Adhora Yeasmein to be withdrawn, or the Home Ministry to issue a statement declaring it null and void.”
He also said: "When journalists were being tortured, Law Minister Anisul Huq announced that if any case were filed against journalists, he would handle the case himself as a lawyer. But to date, I have not seen him handling a single case."
Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday said authorities in Bangladesh must immediately drop their investigation into journalist Adhora Yeasmein and stop using the DSA to intimidate journalists in retaliation for their work.
The New York City-based group said that on May 13, the Chittagong Cyber Tribunal registered a complaint under the Digital Security Act against Adhora Yeasmein, who works at the Dhaka office of private television channel RTV, and her source.
The case was filed in relation to the RTV broadcast on April 30 of the reporter's video investigation exposing alleged crimes by the conservative Islamic organization Rajarbagh Darbar Sharif and one of its leaders, Shakerul Kabir, according to news reports and a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.