ZYMA ISLAM

As countries around the globe today celebrate the World Press Freedom Day, five senior journalists remain behind bars for between 593 and 620 days in Bangladesh. None of them have been formally charged since their arrest after the 2024 July uprising.

The deaths of the July protesters they are being held over are real, but the charges they face seem unreal.

Farzana Rupa, Shakil Ahmed, Shyamal Dutta, and Mozammel Haque Babu are accused of murdering Mahfuz Alam Shraban, a 21-year-old BNP activist and pharmaceutical worker killed during the protests in Mirpur on August 5, 2024.

The case filed over Shraban’s death states that protesters passing through the road between Mirpur Complex and Mirpur Model Police Station were attacked by security forces and Awami League The

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