The United Nations has condemned the killing of Bangladeshi blogger and writer Avijit Roy.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, made the statement in response to a query on the brutal killing in Bangladesh at a regular press briefing on Friday.
"On the attack of the blogger, we spoke to our human rights colleagues who obviously condemned the attack," Dujarric said.
He said the UN also expressed the hope that the perpetrators of the murder will be quickly brought to justice.
"It's obviously very important that the space for freedom of expression in civil society be upheld in Bangladesh," Dujarric quoted the UN human rights officials.
The United States also strongly condemned the brutal murder of Avijit Roy and said it would "stand ready to assist in the investigation if asked," US state department spokesperson Jen Psaki told journalists at a regular press briefing in Washington, DC on Friday.
Avijit, 45, was hacked to death and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonna, 35, was seriously injured in an attack by unidentified assailants near the TSC roundabout on Thursday night.
Only hours after the death of the author and blogger, the responsibility of the crime was claimed by a Twitter account reportedly belonging to “Ansar Bangla 7” – a group believed to be an Islamist outfit.
“Allahu Akbar..A great success today here in #Bangladesh. Target is Down -:- here in #Dhaka,” read the tweet by the group.
Family sources said Avijit – a naturalised US citizen who lived in the American state of Georgia – came to Bangladesh with his wife on February 15 after two new books he authored were published at the Ekushey Book Fair.
Since arriving in Dhaka, the author, who rose to prominence with his Bangla-language blog site Mukto-mona, had been visiting the book fair every day – reportedly staying there until the end of business hours.
