US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has blamed the murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy on a ‘culture of impunity’ persisting in Bangladesh and called for a swift and effective probe to bring the murderers to justice.
Bangladeshi authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate the Thursday murder of Avijit and ensure the perpetrators are held to account, the CPJ said in a statement on Friday.
“We call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government to leave no stone unturned in investigating and prosecuting the attack on Avijit Roy and Rafida Ahmed Bonya,” said CPJ Asia Programme Coordinator Bob Dietz in New York.
“This attack is emblematic of the culture of impunity that pervades Bangladesh, where the lack of accountability in previous attacks on the press continues to spurn a deadly cycle of violence.”Bloggers and commentators covering religious issues in Bangladesh have been at risk in recent years, according to CPJ research. Avijit, a naturalised US citizen of Bangladeshi origin, was visiting Dhaka to attend the Amar Ekushey Book Fair, where two of his new books were launched.
He and his wife blogger Bonya were hacked by unidentified miscreants near Dhaka University’s TSC on Thursday night.
He died at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital soon after he was rushed there.
Bonya was seriously injured and it currently undergoing treatment at the Square Hospital in Dhaka.
The blogger had reported receiving death threats from Islamists to his friends and family and to the UK-based human rights organisation, the International Humanist and Ethical Union, CPJ said.
The blogger’s father, Ajay Roy told journalists that Avijit had received threatening messages over email and on social media from individuals who were unhappy with his writing, said the CPJ statement. – Agencies
