DHAKA: Bangladesh police on Wednesday charged a journalist from a leading newspaper for producing “false news” after an article on high food prices went viral, stoking fears about media freedom.
The government has widely used the draconian Digital Security Act under which Shamsuzzaman Shams was charged to muzzle journalists and critics, rights groups say.
Shams’s newspaper Prothom Alo stated he was picked up from his home in the industrial town of Savar just outside Dhaka at around 4:00 am (2200 GMT) by plainclothes police.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan confirmed that police questioned the reporter for a “false story” published at the weekend.
“A case has been lodged against him,” the minister said, adding that Shams would be released from custody but could be arrested again over the charges.
According to a copy of the case obtained by AFP, the reporter was charged with “smearing the image of the government with false news” and raising questions about Bangladesh’s achievements under the Digital Security Act.
The article was published on Sunday and included quotes from ordinary people talking about their lives during Bangladesh’s Independence Day celebrations.
“What is the use of this so-called freedom if we can not afford rice,” one labourer was quoted as saying.
Like in other poorer countries, the cost of food items has soared in Bangladesh since last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The taka has fallen sharply against the United States dollar.
According to a local think tank, around 3,000 people have been charged under the Digital Security Act since the law was enacted in 2018, including about 280 journalists.
This has raised concerns that under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in power since 2009, the country of 170 million people is becoming increasingly authoritarian.
Bangladesh ranks 162 of 180 countries in World Press Freedom Index
Reporters Without Borders ranked the South Asian nation 162 of 180 countries in its 2022 World Press Freedom Index. Bangladesh is ranked below Russia (155) and Afghanistan (156).
In recent months, the country’s dwindling number of independent media and journalists has come under increasing attacks by the government and Sheikh Hasina’s ruling party.
The authorities closed the lone opposition mouthpiece last month, saying it violated the country’s press laws.
At least ten journalists were beaten up by police while covering a disputed election of Supreme Court lawyers in Dhaka.
Last week, a brother of an Al Jazeera investigative journalist based in London was brutally beaten up, allegedly by men from the ruling party.
