Bangladesh is the most dangerous place in Asia to be a newsman, the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists has said, urging the government to vigorously investigate and prosecute attacks on journalists.
"Physical assaults and intimidation are almost commonplace, particularly in rural areas, where journalists are threatened, beaten severely and even murdered just for reporting the news," the CPJ said in a statement issued in New York on Friday. There was no immediate official reaction to the statement.
"It takes courage to be a journalist in Bangladesh," the statement quoted the CPJ's executive director, Ann Cooper, as saying after a recent visit to the country.
A copy of the statement was faxed to Reuters in Dhaka on Saturday.
The CPJ urged the Bangladesh government to vigorously investigate and prosecute all those who murder, assault or threaten the country's journalists.
"Without justice - for those who attack journalists as well as those who order such attacks - violence will continue and so will Bangladesh's reputation as the most violent country in Asia for journalists."
Since 1997, at least seven journalists in Bangladesh have been killed in reprisal for their work, and dozens more have been assaulted or threatened, the CPJ said.
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