Bangladesh Nationalist Party touts press freedom despite suppression of Hasina speech coverage

A Bangladesh Nationalist Party minister claimed Saturday that the country’s media enjoy “complete freedom,” days after the Tarique Rahman government threatened news organizations with legal action for carrying former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s speech from New Delhi.

State minister for fisheries and livestock Sultan Salahuddin Tuku said the Bangladesh Nationalist Party believes in “unfettered media freedom” and “does not control any news outlet.”

The assertion contrasts sharply with the government’s enforcement of a court-ordered ban on Hasina’s statements. Information and broadcasting adviser Zahed Ur Rahman threatened action against outlets that defied the prohibition.

Major Bangladeshi newspapers and television stations complied, depriving Bangladeshis of substantive news coverage of the former prime minister’s Aug. 5 speech. The restrictions also raise constitutional concerns because Article 39 of Bangladesh’s Constitution protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press, subject to specified legal restrictions.