The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has demanded the immediate release of Mozammel Babu, the former managing director of Ekattor TV, and Farzana Rupa, the station’s former chief reporter, following their arrest in a crimes against humanity case,.
The duo was shown arrested on Friday in connection with a case involving the 2013 Hefazat-e-Islam assembly at Shapla Square, where a “massacre” was allegedly carried out.
They are currently in jail, and the court has set 7 June as the deadline for the submission of the investigation report. Former foreign minister Dipu Moni has also been shown arrested in the same case.
“Using the International Crimes Tribunal as a tool to target journalists should stop,” said CPJ’s Asia-Pacific Programme Coordinator Kunal Majumder. He argued that making editorial decisions regarding the coverage of controversial political events does not constitute a crime against humanity.
Majumder added that using international criminal law frameworks to punish journalists bypasses fundamental constitutional protections and violates international human rights conventions.
According to the prosecution, Farzana Rupa is alleged to have used “controversial individuals” and spread “misleading information” in Ekattor TV reports to divert public attention from killings occurring during the operation at Shapla Square.
Mozammel Babu is accused of supervising the broadcast of these reports in his capacity as managing director. The Chief Prosecutor described these actions as a “planned effort to hide the actual number of deaths.”
The prosecution further alleged that both Rupa and Babu labelled the Hefazat-e-Islam assembly as “provocative” from the beginning and attempted to establish a “different narrative” through their media coverage.
However, the CPJ noted that it had reviewed a 2013 documentary presented by Rupa which investigated the post-operation situation and challenged the claimed casualty figures. The documentary reportedly identified individuals who were alive despite being included on lists of the deceased.
Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam had told journalists that the law does not distinguish between professions when a crime is committed.
“We judge the crime. People of any profession will be brought to justice if they commit a specific crime,” he said, claiming the journalists were arrested for their involvement in the “mechanism” or planning behind the Shapla Square events, rather than just for reporting.
Following their initial detention, Babu and Rupa were also shown arrested in cases related to killings during the 2024 mass uprising. Although the High Court granted Rupa interim bail in six cases on 11 May, she remains in custody due to the pending ICT case and other charges.
