Washington, D.C., October 12, 2021 — The All European Awami League should immediately withdraw its complaint to the Swedish police against Bangladeshi journalist Tasneem Khalil, and Bangladesh authorities must cease harassing Khalil and his family, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On October 7, members of the All European Awami League, a Europe-focused branch of Bangladesh\u2019s ruling Awami League party, filed a complaint with the Globen police department in Sweden\u2019s Stockholm county against Khalil, editor-in-chief of the Sweden-based news website Netra News<\/em>, claiming that the journalist had engaged in \u201ca consistent effort to peddle a wave of disinformation and slanders against the government of Bangladesh\u201d through Netra News<\/em>, according to news<\/a> reports<\/a> and Khalil, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The complaint also alleges that Khalil, who lives in Sweden, has been \u201cspreading smears and rumors to confuse the public and often casting as persons against the Prime Minister and her family members,\u201d according to those reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Khalil told CPJ that the police have not contacted him, and he has not seen the complaint himself; CPJ was unable to review a copy of the complaint. The Swedish police can decide whether to pursue an investigation into the complaint, Khalil said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBangladesh authorities and political leaders need to accept critical coverage by journalists like Tasneem Khalil, and stop trying to muzzle their voices through ceaseless harassment,\u201d said Steven Butler, CPJ\u2019s Asia program coordinator. \u201cThe All European Awami League should withdraw its complaint against Khalil, and Bangladesh authorities must stop harassing Khalil and his family, and allow journalists to do their work without interference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Netra News<\/em> has recently published a number of columns criticizing the Bangladesh government<\/a>, the Awami League<\/a>, and the crackdown on press freedom<\/a> in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CPJ emailed the All European Awami League and the office of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who also serves as president of the Awami League, for comment, but did not receive any replies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When CPJ called the Swedish national police, an officer declined to comment and requested that CPJ submit questions via email. When CPJ emailed the national police for comment, an officer referred questions to the Stockholm county police. CPJ emailed that office for comment but did not immediately receive any reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Separately, authorities in Bangladesh have repeatedly harassed Khalil\u2019s mother, the journalist said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On April 9, 2020, members of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, the intelligence section of the Bangladesh armed forces, visited the home of Khalil\u2019s mother, Nazneen Khalil, questioned her about her private life, and asked her to speak to Khalil regarding his journalistic work which they alleged \u201ctarnishes the image of the country,\u201d according to news reports<\/a> and a Facebook post<\/a> by Khalil at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On October 27, 2020, members of the Special Branch of the police in the northeastern Bangladesh city of Sylhet, where Nazneen Khalil lives, questioned her about the whereabouts of Khalil and his siblings, who are not journalists, according to Khalil and his Facebook post<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CPJ called and emailed the office of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, but received error messages. Mofiz Uddin Ahmed, deputy inspector general of the Sylhet police, did not respond to CPJ\u2019s emailed request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On September 12, the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal accepted Digital Security Act charges against Khalil on the basis of a police report that alleged that he made derogatory comments about government officials on his Facebook page and \u201cinstigated\u201d Kabir Kishore<\/a>, a Bangladeshi cartoonist, to \u201cmake anti-state rumors go viral on social media,\u201d as CPJ documented<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On October 6, police in Dhaka arrested Nusrat Shahrin Raka, the sister of exiled journalist Kanak Sarwar in apparent retaliation for his critical coverage of the Bangladesh government and ruling Awami League, as CPJ documented<\/a>. Yesterday, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka denied Raka\u2019s bail application, according to Sarwar, who spoke to CPJ via phone.<\/p>\n\n
\r\nThis content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists<\/a> and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.
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