UNESCO Chief Condemns Another Journalist’s Murder

UNESCO Chief Condemns Yet Another Journalist’s Murder, This Time In Bangladesh

Keeping up his campaign to defend the freedom of the press, the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today deplored the murder of a Bangladeshi journalist as a blow against democracy.

Bellal Hossain Dafadar, 38, a correspondent of the Khulna-based daily newspaper Janabani, died after he was stabbed by four or five assailants as he was cycling back home from a local bazaar on 14 September.

“I am very distressed by this new attack on a journalist in Bangladesh and urge the authorities to ensure that such crimes do not go unpunished,” UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said in a statement.

“It is essential that journalists be able to carry out their professional duties and exercise the basic human right of freedom of expression in the interest of democracy and rule of law,” he added.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), nine journalists have been killed in Bangladesh over the past five years.

UNESCO has a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom, and Mr. Matsuura has issued frequent condemnations of the murder of journalists around the world.

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