Journalist arrested after taking part in roundtable, in new use of Bangladesh’s anti-terrorism law

Monjurul Alam Panna, who runs the YouTube channel Manchitro,ended the evening in detention after being invited to speak as a journalist at a roundtable debate about Bangladesh's war of liberation and the constitution.

Organized by the civil society platform Mancha 71 - dedicated to preserving the memory of the War of Independence - this public meeting was held at the auditorium of the independent association Dhaka Reporters Unity, in the capital, Dhaka. It suddenly degenerated when a group of individuals stormed in and accused the participants of "sympathy" for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose authoritarian government fell in 2024 after cracking downbloodily on weeks of massive protests.

It was Monjurul Alam Panna who called the police to intervene and restore order. But instead of arresting the attackers, the police arrested16 people who had been attending the meeting, including the journalist himself.

Since then, he has been detained along with the other participants under Bangladesh's anti-terrorism law on the baseless charge of "conspiring to overthrow the interim government." The press secretary of Bangladesh's "chief adviser" (the head of the interim government) did not respond to RSF's request for comment.

Monjurul Alam Panna's request for bail was rejectedon 4 September and no trial date has so far been set. Two reporters who tried to interview him during the bail hearing were accosted by a lawyer, who physically assaulted one, Asif Mohammad Siamof Somoy TV, and verbally threatened the other, Muktadir Rashid Romeoof Bangla Outlook.

Five other journalists are currently detainedin Bangladesh pending trial: Ekattor TV's Farzana Rupa and Shakil Ahmad, Ekattor TV's Mozammel Babu, freelancer Shahriar Kabir, and Shyamal Dutta, a reporter for the daily newspaper Bhorer Kagoj.