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The arrest triggered widespread concern among journalists, who saw it as a warning about the cost of critical reporting.

Shams’s case was not an isolated one. Journalists such as Mahfuj Ullah, Enayetullah Khan, Tasneem Khalil, Shahriar Kabir, Saleem Samad, Tipu Sultan and Priscilla Raj have faced arrest, torture, or intimidation under different administrations. Poet Al Mahmud, who once edited Ganakantha, the mouthpiece of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, was also among those targeted.

Under the Yunus-led interim government, many journalists were arrested on flimsy murder charges, with several denied bail numerous times and are still behind bars.

This analysis by The Daily Star, based on V-Dem data, comes as countries around the globe mark World Press Freedom Day today to celebrate independent journalism.

With journalists still facing legal pressure and the risk of prosecution for critical reporting, the long‑term patterns documented by V‑Dem offer a reminder that meaningful press freedom depends not on temporary political change, but on durable legal protections and institutional restraint, experts say.

The V‑Dem project is a global research initiative based at the University of Gothenburg that tracks the state of democracy and fundamental freedoms across the globe over time.

Its datasets are built from expert assessments by thousands of country specialists and are widely regarded as among the most comprehensive measures of democratic conditions, including press freedom. V‑Dem data is frequently cited by international media such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Economist, and is used by governments, the United Nations, the European Union, and policy institutions.

The V‑Dem Harassment of Journalists indicator (v2meharjrn) tracks whether journalists are arrested, imprisoned, assaulted, or killed for carrying out legitimate journalistic work, whether by state authorities or powerful non‑state actors.

The figures used in this analysis are sourced from V-Dem’s latest release, Country-Year Version 16, in March 2026. The data offers a statistical record of what many journalists in Bangladesh have long experienced firsthand.

Notably, Bangladesh has had two distinct experiences – one where journalists who offend powerful actors are almost always harassed and eventually forced to stop, and another where the environment is mixed, with some journalists suppressed while others manage to continue freely.

WORST YEARS

Bangladesh’s record on press freedom shows three distinct periods when journalists faced the harshest repression: the final year of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s rule in 1975, the military dictatorship of General HM Ershad from the early 1980s to 1990, and the last two terms of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, from 2014 to 2024.

The most severe year on record was 1975, when Mujib introduced the one party-rule called Baksal. That move saw all privately-owned newspapers shut and the country’s press reduced to just four state‑controlled outlets.

Press freedom again deteriorated sharply after Ershad seized power in March 1982. Throughout his nine years in office, journalists who challenged the regime were regularly censored, harassed, or intimidated. Newspapers were issued press notes instructing them on what to publish or avoid, and those that resisted faced bans or closure.

Publications such as Jaijai Din and weekly Bichinta faced closure during this period. V‑Dem records show that conditions for journalists remained consistently severe throughout Ershad’s rule, with only marginal improvement even as he later sought legitimacy through controlled elections.

The longest and most sustained period of harassment, however, came during Hasina’s final two terms. Nine of Bangladesh’s 10 worst‑ever scores on the V‑Dem Harassment of Journalists Index fall between 2014 and 2024.

During this period, conditions repeatedly reached levels indicating that journalists critical of powerful actors were often subjected to legal action, detention, or intimidation. Earlier years in the same period also reflected widespread pressure on the press.

The Digital Security Act of 2018 allowed journalists to be prosecuted under broadly defined offences that covered much of online and print criticism of the government.

Contacted, Md Saiful Islam Chowdhury, associate professor at the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at Dhaka University, said that all Bangladeshi governments, irrespective of party, whether civilian or military, have been repressive.

According to him, the same strategies and laws -- such as anti-terrorism law -- used to suppress opposition parties are also used to curb the media and newspapers.

SHORT-LIVED BETTER YEARS

Bangladesh has experienced brief periods when pressure on journalists eased, but those moments proved fragile and temporary. V‑Dem data shows lower levels of harassment between 1978 and 1981, during the rule of Ziaur Rahman.

During this period, the government took steps that reduced direct state control over the press, including establishing the Press Institute of Bangladesh, forming the Press Council as an arbitration body, and granting land for the National Press Club.

Media researchers note that these institutional moves created limited space for journalistic activities after the near‑total press shutdown imposed under Baksal in 1975.

During this comparatively better period, journalists who challenged the prevailing order were not spared. US journalist Lawrence Lifschultz was expelled from the country after reporting on the trial of Colonel Taher.

Another relative improvement came after the fall of Hasina’s government in 2024.

In 2025, under the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus, although many journalists lost jobs or faced court cases on flimsy murder charges, Bangladesh recorded its second‑lowest level of journalist harassment for journalistic work, according to the V-Dem data.

Press freedom advocates attributed the improvement to the suspension of politically motivated prosecutions by the government, the easing of surveillance, and the absence of a dominant ruling party apparatus during the transition period.

The longest stretch of comparatively lower pressure occurred between 1991 and 2005, following the restoration of electoral democracy. This period saw a set of legal reforms and rapid expansion of the media sector, with the launch of influential national dailies such as Ajker Kagoj, The Daily Star, and Prothom Alo, as well as the introduction of private television through ATN Bangla.

While governments formed by both the BNP and Awami League retained restrictive laws, they largely refrained from dismantling independent media outright, allowing competition and audience growth to strengthen newsroom influence, analysis shows.

Even the periods V-Dem identifies as relatively better were not without serious incidents. Between 1991 and 2005, both press and television channels came under government pressures. For instance, Prothom Alo journalist Tipu Sultan was attacked for journalistic work in 2001 and Ekushey TV was shut down in 2002.

“Simply put, the Bangladeshi ruling class does not want to be questioned. They do not need to use force or jail journalists; intimidation works through surveillance by state agencies, legal harassment, and financial pressure, such as control over advertising. We have also seen mobs mobilised against the media in the post-uprising period,” said Saiful Islam Chowdhury.