A court in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, on Thursday permitted police to interrogate two journalists in their custody for four days in connection to the killing of a garment worker.
The garment worker had joined recent student protests against longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which forced her to resign and abscond to India in early August.
This development comes as heightened threats face journalists in Bangladesh amid ongoing protests. Since the protests broke out, dozens of journalists have been injured, and at least five have been killed.
The journalist couple — Ekattor TV’s former head of news Shakil Ahmed and former Ekattor TV correspondent Farzana Rupa — were arrested on Wednesday when they and their daughter went to the capital’s main airport to travel to Paris via Istanbul.
Ekattor TV is considered to be a pro-Hasina channel. Authorities fired the two journalists after Hasina’s government fell.
Police claimed on Thursday that the journalist couple had incited Hasina’s former government to kill protesters. The reporters were arrested in connection to a murder case involving a garment worker who died during a demonstration on August 5 in Dhaka.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch has expressed concern about the journalist couple’s arrest.
The United Nations has affirmed the importance of journalist safety amid ongoing chaos in Bangladesh.
“The safety and well-being of journalists anywhere in the world is of critical importance for any country, especially for countries going through a transition. It is important that journalists be allowed to do their work, and that those who commit violence against journalists be held to account,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Wednesday.
Bangladesh’s Washington Embassy did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.
Some information in this report came from Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press.
