Tag Archives: journalists

MNA International Desk: A Myanmar court on Monday sentenced two Reuters journalists to seven years imprisonment as they were found guilty of breaching a law on state secrets, reported news agency. Yangon northern district judge Ye Lwin said Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, breached the colonial-era Official Secrets Act when they collected and obtained confidential documents. “The defendants…have breached Official Secrets Act section 3.1.c, and are sentenced to seven years. The time already served by the defendants from Dec. 12 will be taken into consideration,” the judge said, reports Reuters. The reporters had told the court two ...

MNA International Desk: Some international observers urged Myanmar on Wednesday not to drag out legal proceedings against two Reuters journalists, as they appeared in court for the 10th time since they were arrested in December and accused of possessing secret government papers. A Yangon court began preliminary hearings in January to decide whether reporters Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, will face charges under the colonial-era Officials Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. Denmark’s embassy in Yangon, which has closely followed the case, said ahead of the latest hearing that the journalists ...

MNA Exclusive Desk: Sixty-five journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2017, according to annual figures published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Tuesday. Among them were 50 professional reporters, the lowest toll in 14 years. However, the downward trend is due at least in part to journalists giving up working in the world’s deadliest spots. War-torn Syria remains the most dangerous country in the world for journalists, RSF said, with 12 reporters killed, followed by Mexico where 11 were assassinated. They included Javier Valdez, one of the most prominent chroniclers of Mexico’s deadly drug war, whose murder in ...

MNA Education Desk: Four activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) from Dhaka University were handed over to police for beating journalists. The detainees are — Dhaka University Bijoy Ekattor Hall unit deputy secretary Ahmed Faysal, activists Ashraful Islam, Anwarul Kabir and Tofayel Hossain of the same hall unit. DU sources said private TV Channel 24 journalist Shamima Sultana and online news portal bdnews24.com journalist Masum Billah came under attack by the BCL men while gossiping at Arts Building around 9:30pm. They beat up the journalists terming them outsiders although the duo gave their identities that they were former students of ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The Trump administration should “act as a champion of press freedom”, a senior member of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Saturday, rather than prosecute a war with mainstream US media that could “send a signal to other countries that it is OK to verbally abuse journalists and undermine their credibility”. Rob Mahoney, deputy executive director of the CPJ, a nonprofit that promotes press freedom worldwide, told news agency Trump’s attacks on the press do not “help our work trying to deal with countries like Turkey, Ethiopia or Venezuela, where you have governments who want ...

MNA Editorial Desk: A demonstration was held at National Press Club today in protest against defamatory statements at National Parliament and conspiring cases against journalist leader Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury and countrywide attack-cases-persecution on journalists. The demonstration was jointly arranged by Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) and Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ). Current and former journalist leaders of BFUJ, DUJ and Press Club gave speech in the demonstration while many journalists from different print, online and electronic media were present to support the cause. This demonstration was due to the actions of few MPs after a report was published at ...

MNA National Desk: President Abdul Hamid on Tuesday urged the Press Council of Bangladesh to keep watchful so that they abide by the ethics of journalism properly, reported news agency. The president said this when an 11-member delegation of the Press Council of India, led by its chairman justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad, met him at Bangabhaban. Abdul Hamid also recommend the Press Council of Bangladesh to make sure that media publish news based on facts and do not abuse the press freedom. The president’s press secretary Joynal Abedin briefed reporters after the meeting. During the meeting, the delegation of Press ...

MNA National Desk: Khaleda Zia, BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) chairperson, is set to meet and exchange views with intellectuals, journalists and professionals on Thursday evening over the current militant occurrences at Gulshan restaurant and Eid congregation at Sholakia. Sayrul Kabir Khan, BNP chief’s press wing member, confirmed that the meeting would be held at 8:00pm at chairperson’s Gulshan office. However the BNP chief already set on a meeting with its standing committee members on Wednesday at 8:00pm. After closing that meeting she also sat for another conference with its alliance’s leaders at the same place. The two attacks and significance ...

MNA National Desk: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia, blamed the Bangladesh Awami League (AL) government of attempting to create its control over the media and called on journalists to put up a united resistance against it. “I urge the journalists to get united and create a strong resistance against the blueprint of putting the independence of press at stake,” she told in a message. The former prime minister also added that, Khaleda delivered the message marking the closure of all newspapers, excluding four ones, on 16 June 1975. “The 16 June 1975 is a black day in Bangladesh’s history ...

MNA National Desk: Six journalists have been critically assaulted by the miscreants from three private TV channels at Nazirpara of Teknaf upazila proper on Friday afternoon while they were collecting information about contraband Yaba haul. Suzauddin Rubel and Farazuddin, Somoy television’s district correspondent and videographer respectively were injured. Ekattor Television’s TV correspondent Kamrul Islam Mintu and videographer Babu Das, Independent Television’s district correspondent Toufiquddin Lipu and videographer Mohammad Sharif were also severely injured. The injured journalists admitted to Teknaf Upazila Health Complex. The journalists alleged that a Yaba tablets (known in Asia as the ‘madness drug’) dealer, Nurul Haq Bhutto, ...