Editorial
Press freedom and its abuses
Closing of Amar Desh press and arresting its editor send frightening signals
THERE is no question in our mind that Amar Desh newspaper and its editor abused press freedom by publishing unverified and sometimes malicious reports and writing provocative comments based on them. At times it deliberately tried to arouse religious fury through false or exaggerated reports with avowed purpose of inciting violence. Much of its reporting on bloggers was highly exaggerated and hateful, and the so-called "atheism" controversy was substantially its handy work. While professing love for religion it did not hesitate to falsifying several photos, especially one of a gathering of religious leaders changing the "Gilaf" of the Holy Kaba and printing it as a demonstration against the trial of Delwar Hossain Sayedee.
Having said all the above we are extremely worried that editor of Amar Desh has been arrested and the printing press of the paper put under police control. We recall that it is not the first time that this paper and its editor have been on the receiving end of government action.
Wherever there is freedom, there are those who abuse it. But the answer cannot be to curtail it. Abusing press freedom is not an uncommon thing in a democracy, and ways to handle them are also well known. We believe that the abuses of press freedom in which Amar Desh indulged in should, first of all, have been handled through appropriate legal action, namely going to the Press Council, issuing legal notices, filing of cases for false reporting, etc.
Our worry is further founded on the specific charges that have been brought against the Amar Desh editor. The publication of the text of the said "skype conversation" was already in the public domain. The Economist had already published it and it was widely available inside the country through the internet. We are of the opinion that reproduction of that text was in public interest and the cause of proper trial of the war criminals were better served by exposing the incident. This gave the Tribunal an opportunity to correct itself, which it did, before the trial went to the appeal process.
As for the other two charges about inciting violence during hartal and obstructing the police to carry out its duties -- in both instances his name was not on the original FIR -- patently lacks credibility. Hence we consider these charges to lack substance and meant only to harass him.
Given the above circumstances we are forced to stand in opposition of the government's move as one meant to stifle a critical voice, which cannot be a healthy practice for any country or people valuing freedom of press. Just as we take a firm position in support of freedom of the press we also would like to caution all against abuse of this freedom which we have gained through decades of struggle of the common people and of the journalist community. Much abuse of this precious "freedom" has already occurred.
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