Don't take action against Star

Reporters Without Borders has requested the authorities concerned not to take any judicial action against The Daily Star for publishing a photograph of a poster of banned militant organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The organisation made the call in a statement on Monday, days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told parliament that action would be taken for publishing the poster.

Reporters Without Borders, also known as Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), is a France-based international non-profit, non-governmental organisation that promotes and defends freedom of information and freedom of the press.

"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina violated the media's right to inform when she accused the English-language The Daily Star newspaper of supporting the banned radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir by publishing a report about its recent poster campaign," read the statement.

"We condemn these disproportionate reactions to The Daily Star article and we request that no judicial action be taken against this newspaper," said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

"Covering the activities of a radical Islamist group, even one that has been outlawed, is not the same as supporting it. You just have to look at the international media coverage of Islamic State to understand that. The prime minister's statement was surprising, to say the least, and represented a denial of the right to information."

The Daily Star on February 11 published a snapshot of the poster under the headline "Fanatics raise their ugly heads again".

The caption of the photo said, "Taking advantage of the current political crisis in the country accompanied by wanton violence, banned extremist Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir published and pasted posters in the capital in an attempt to foment unrest within the armed forces. This poster was found pasted on a wall in an alleyway near the Bangla Motor intersection yesterday."

Speaking in the House on February 18, the PM said "[legal] action will be taken against those who tried to patronise Hizb ut-Tahrir by publishing its poster."

Her announcement came three days after a lawyer filed a complaint in a Dhaka magistrate's court against the editor and publisher of The Daily Star, Mahfuz Anam, Chief News Editor Syed Ashfaqul Haque and Chief Photographer SK Enamul Haq.

Tension has been growing between the media and certain political parties, whose supporters have been using violence against journalists, the organisation said, adding that the authorities are also taking a tougher line with news outlets they regard as overly critical.