Bangladesh condemned for crackdown on journalists and teachers

An international human‑rights organisation, Justice Makers Bangladesh in France (JMBF), denounced recent actions by Bangladesh’s authorities as politically motivated attacks on fundamental freedoms. On July 27 the country’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) filed charges against journalists Shahriar Kabir, Mozammel Haque, Farzana Rupa and blogger Imran H. Sarker, prompting JMBF to call for the immediate withdrawal of the indictment and warn that criminalising journalism threatens press freedom and the rule of law.

A day later, Dhaka University’s syndicate suspended three teachers and removed four others from academic and administrative duties, citing alleged political dissent. JMBF condemned the university’s measures as a violation of academic freedom and institutional autonomy, urging the Bangladeshi government to end political interference in higher education and to ensure due‑process protections for scholars.

Both statements, issued from Paris, stress the need for independent, impartial judicial and disciplinary procedures and highlight the broader risk that politicised prosecutions pose to democratic values in Bangladesh.