Bangladesh: urgently locate missing journalist; drop criminal case against news editor, others
New York: – Bangladesh authorities should urgently locate the journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol, who has been missing since March 10, 2020, Human Rights Watch said today. The day before he disappeared, Kajol was among those accused in a criminal case against a prominent news editor, Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, and 30 others under the draconian Digital Security Act.On March 2, Chowdhury’s newspaper, the Manabzamin, published an article describing various lawmakers who, according to an unverified list, visited a sex trafficking ring allegedly operated out of a hotel in Dhaka by a member of the ruling Awami League party. Shifuzzaman Shikhor, a lawmaker and former aide to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, later filed the case against Chowdhury, Kajol, and others. While the newspaper did not publish any names, some people – including some of those accused by Shikhor – circulated this unverified list on Facebook, which included Shik...