UN chief, EU delegation condemn Niladri killing

The UN chief and the European Union (EU) delegation to Bangladesh have condemned the killing of blogger Niladri Chattopadhyay Niloy.

Expressing grave concern over the brutal murder, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the Bangladesh government for bringing the perpetrators to justice.

The UN chief, in a statement yesterday, has also called upon the government to bring those responsible for the murder of Niloy and other bloggers to justice in an expeditious manner and act to ensure that all Bangladeshis can enjoy freedom of expression and other human rights without fear.

Niloy is the fourth blogger to have been hacked to death this year. Avijit Roy

was killed in February, Oyasiqur Rahman in March and Ananta Bijoy Das in May.

All of the murders were committed by suspected Islamist extremists, police said.

EU STATEMENT

The European Union (EU) delegation has condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the vile aggression committed against Niloy and expressed sympathy to his widow and other family members.

This being the fourth such savage assassination in less than six months, the intention of the perpetrators is clear: to suppress the freedom of expression, the EU said in a statement yesterday.

"But we have learnt from history that the people of Bangladesh do not tolerate intimidation. Freedom of expression is, in the first place, an expression of freedom," the statement said.

"We urge all relevant official authorities to take immediate action against those responsible for these crimes, bring them to justice and prevent repetition of such barbaric acts," it added.