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Repressive laws put journos at peril

South Asian media conference told

Staff Correspondent
Redundant, repressive and vaguely worded laws and lack of accountability of the bureaucracy put the journalists in the line of duty in grave peril, said speakers at a conference on press freedom and media laws yesterday.
"Laws that were made during the colonial era do not protect the citizens' right to information and are responsible for exposing the journalists to risks," said Abdur Rob Mollah, a former judge, in the opening session of the conference organised by the South Asian Free Media Association (Safma) at the National Press Club.
"Most laws in the penal code are open to extensive interpretation and are used to harass journalists," said
Mollah in his review of the existing press laws.
Mollah added that legal provisions like the Official Secrets Act and some other obsolete laws allow the executive and the government to refuse the journalists access to information held by public bodies. When journalists are arrested under these laws they do not have even the right to know on what charge they are being held.
Mollah said greater accountability and transparency in the government are the cornerstones of a demoractic society. It is not right if the government intervenes in attempt to prevent citizens from gaining access to infor-m at i o n , he
SEE PAGE 11 COL 8 FROM PAGE 12 continued.
Mollah recommended wholesale reforms of the existing press laws rather than dumping those legal provisions all together. He said the language used in the laws should be more clear-cut to preclude arbitrary interpretations that all too often are used to harass journalists.
Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, a Safma member, while commenting on the review and recommendations of Mollah said that Article 19 of the constitution guarantees the freedom of expression but there is no provision to deal with the situation 'after expression'.
Secretary General of Safma, Imtiaz Alam, said the executive bodies should stop interfering in information laws, adding these laws should be brought under civil procedure.
Social security of the journalists should also be ensured said a participant.
The inaugural session passed a message of condolence and condemnation on the grenade attacks on the Awami League rally on Saturday.
The participants observed a minute's silence in honour of those who perished in the blasts.