IPI meets with Bangladesh government over journalists’ deaths and media reform

Media freedom, the need for a new broadcasting policy, and the safety of journalists in Bangladesh has been on the agenda for delegates from the International Press Institute (IPI) and the country’s prime minister and government officials, rapidtvnews reports.

At least 24 journalists have been killed in Bangladesh since 1998, according to delegate Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, IPI board member and chairman of the IPI Bangladesh National Committee. None of those responsible has yet been brought to justice.

On 11 February this year, Sagar Sarwar, news editor of the private TV station Massranga and his wife Mehrun Runi, senior reporter with ATN Bangla Television, were stabbed to death in their home in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.

The attack prompted a countrywide hunger strike on 1 March by journalists, who have now called for a rally in Dhaka on 18 March to press for the arrest of the killers.

IPI delegates also stressed the importance of prosecuting the murderers during a meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 28 February, which also covered improvements in media freedom.