Bangladeshi journalists are hoping the resignation of the prime minister Sheikh Hasina will bring an era of censorship and fear to an end, as they prepare to hold a new interim government to account.
Arrests, abuse and forced disappearances at the hands of Bangladesh’s security forces have loomed over journalists for most of Hasina’s 15-year rule, preventing them from routine reporting for fear of writing anything that could be perceived as embarrassing for the government.
Last year, Hasina labelled the country’s largest circulated newspaper, Prothom Alo, an “enemy of the people” for reporting on inflation.
But this week, cautious optimism has begun to spread among Bangladeshi journalists.
“I’m hopeful. At the very least, we have seen the back of a repressive government, which is itself a major achievement,” said Zafar Sobhan, the editor of the English-language daily newspaper Dhaka Tribune.
Sobhan said the first few years under Hasina’s Awami League were relatively free but the situation for the press rapidly deteriorated after the opposition’s boycott of the 2014 election raised questions over the government’s legitimacy.
Sobhan said he constantly feared his journalists would be attacked by officials and security forces and did not have faith in the judiciary providing protection. He said that when one of his reporters was jailed for potential voter fraud in the 2018 election, he “had to move heaven and earth” to have them released.
He said he hoped now the country’s most repressive laws, which also cover social media posts, would be repealed to allow the country to “set things right”.
“Things could very easily go very wrong but I am hopeful that the Bangladeshi people will be able to rise to the challenge and fashion a freer and fairer world for ourselves moving forward,” said Sobhan.
The government of Hasina’s rival and predecessor Khaleda Zia first introduced the Information and Communication Technology Act in 2006, which covered digital communication and restricted media freedoms. This was replaced in 2018 by the harsher Digital Security Act, which has been most associated with the suppression of the media under Hasina.
Critics said a clause allowing investigation into anyone considered to be threatening “the spirit of liberation” was vaguely worded and exploited to allow a crackdown on dissent.
The Dhaka-based thinktank the Centre for Governance Studies, said 7,000 cases were filed under the act between 2018 and 2023, including 255 against journalists for their reporting.
Of those, 155 journalists were charged under section 25 which covers “publishing, sending of offensive, false or fear-inducing data-information”, which carries a three-year sentence.
A further 154 faced five years in jail for “publishing, broadcasting and disseminating defamatory information”.
After international criticism, the Digital Security Act was replaced last year with the Cybersecurity Act, which Amnesty International said was almost identical to the previous law.
Amnesty International this week called on the new interim government to repeal all laws that restrict freedom of expression.
Taqbir Huda, a regional researcher for south Asia at Amnesty, said: “The interim government must undo this longstanding legacy of quashing dissent by repealing laws such as the CSA, which threaten and undermine the rights to freedom of expression, liberty and privacy in Bangladesh.”
Muktadir Rashid, a reporter for the newly established news site Bangla Outlook, said editors at his previous paper, New Age, would frequently reject his articles without explanation. His investigations into human rights abuses and reports of extrajudicial killings attracted threats from security forces.
Rashid had to spend several months abroad at one point, fearing he would be picked up by authorities and potentially disappeared. He would update family and contacts in Dhaka’s diplomatic corps on his movements.
Rashid, who was twice attacked by security forces while covering the recent protests, said he was happy but not ready to relax.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen in the coming days, unless there’s a sense of stability and confidence for journalists and space for criticism. It’s not yet a time to say yes we’re fine – it’s a transition period,” he said.
“Journalists play a crucial role during this transition because they are now free and are trying to expose the lost stories [of the past]. There are concerns among the journalists about how long things will be favourable for the press.”
The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders ranked Bangladesh the 15th worst country in the world for press freedom in 2024.
The recent student protests, sparked by anger over an unequal system for allocated government jobs, saw further challenges to media freedom, with a media blackout for days and the deaths of three journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Safety concerns have not been limited to journalists in Dhaka. Journalists in other parts of the country have struggled to hold to account local officials without facing repercussions.
Sumon Chowdhury, 45, who reports from the city of Barisal for the national daily the Samakal, said the looting and reprisal attacks against police and Awami League supporters over the past week concerned him but he believed there was at least an opportunity to now fight for press freedom.
“In recent days, we’ve experienced a tremendous sense of freedom, though most reporting has been against the ousted government. We’re uncertain what the future holds under a new government. If they dismantle systems like the Awami League did, we’ll be back to square one,” said Chowdhury.
“Currently, I don’t feel safe. I’m witnessing all this mayhem unfold before me, and it’s daunting to report in a country without law and order. But once this chaos settles, I hope the journalistic community remains united, sending any government a clear message that journalism must be free from intimidation and corruption. Lawmakers and senior officials should not corrupt journalists by any means.”
