HC directive to hurt media freedom

Several bodies of journalists yesterday sharply reacted to a High Court directive to the media regarding reports on the murder of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi.
The HC directive upon the information secretary would hamper the independence of the media, apprehended the journalist leaders in a joint statement.
Two factions of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ), Jatiya Press Club and Dhaka Reporters' Unity (DRU) signed the statement.
An HC bench on Tuesday in one of its rulings directed the information secretary to take steps within 24 hours to ensure the media do not publish any speculative news report on the incident.
The court also asked the government to explain within two weeks why it should not be directed to find out the motive for the murders and to bring the killers to justice.
The statement also said when the parliament passed the Right to Information Act and the government constituted an Information Commission, such a directive from the HC was “unexpected and unwarranted”.
The journalist leaders said they believed in the independence of the judiciary as well as the independence of the media in line with the constitution.
Sagar, news editor at the private TV channel Maasranga, and his wife Runi, a senior reporter at another TV channel, ATN Bangla, were killed in the wee hours on February 11 at their rented apartment in the city's West Rajabazar.
Meanwhile, the leaders urged all to participate in a six-hour mass hunger strike programme at the Jatiya Press Club from 10:00am today demanding proper investigation into the double murder, exemplary punishment of the killers, stopping torture on journalists and ensuring independence of the media.