News Desk :
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Bangladeshi authorities to conduct a swift, independent, and transparent investigation into the death of writer Mushtaq Ahmed in custody.
The organization also called for the unconditional release of jailed political cartoonist Kabir Kishore and an investigation into claims that he was physically abused in detention.
CPJ is an international non-profit organizationworking to establish press freedom. They are headquartered in New York, US.
“Mushtaq Ahmed was pronounced dead on arrival [Thursday] at the Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Medical College Hospital, in the central city of Gazipur, after being transported from the Kashimpur Jail; he had been held since May for allegedly violating the country’s Digital Security Act,” said statement on the CPJ website on Thursday.
“The circumstances and cause of death are not yet known, Jyotirmoy Barua, Ahmed’s lawyer, told CPJ in a phone interview. Barua said that neither he nor Ahmed’s family members had been contacted by authorities informing them of the death, and that he learned about it via social media,” it added.
Aliya Iftikhar, CPJ’s senior Asia researcher, said: “Mushtaq Ahmed’s death in a Bangladeshi prison, where he never should have been detained in the first place, is a devastating and unconscionable loss. The Bangladeshi government must allow an independent inquiry into how Mushtaq Ahmed died and move immediately to repeal the Digital Security Act, which it has used repeatedly and unjustly against journalists.”
