CPJ, partners call on Bangladesh to drop ICT case against journalists Farzana Rupa and Mozammel Babu

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined four other press freedom and human rights organizations on Wednesday in calling on Bangladesh’s government to drop any pending criminal charges against journalists Farzana Rupa and Mozammel Babu, including in a crimes-against-humanity case.

On May 14, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) revealed Rupa, a former chief reporter and presenter at privately owned Ekattor TV, and Babu, the channel’s founder and former editor-in-chief, had been arrested in a case linked to the May 2013 security crackdown on a rally by Islamist group Hefajat-e-Islam at Shapla Chattar.

Prosecutors allege a current-affairs program that Rupa presented spread misleading information about casualty figures, which remain contested. However, the lawyers for both journalists say they have not received evidence or formal charge sheets.

In a statement, the groups also raised concern about the ongoing pre-trial detention of Rupa, Babu, and two other journalists, Shakil Ahmed and Shyamal Dutta, in cases connected to 2024 mass protests that ended former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule.

The signatories urged the government to ensure the ICT, a domestic war crimes tribunal, does not formally accuse Rupa and Babu of crimes based solely on their journalism; that the government establish an independent review mechanism for ICT cases involving journalists; and that it release Rupa, Ahmed, Babu, and Dutta and drop politically motivated charges against them.

The statement was also signed by Human Rights Watch, ARTICLE 19, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, and Amnesty International.

Read the full statement here.