Assistant Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Head of the party’s Central Publicity and Media Department Advocate Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair issued a statement today, September 7 expressing deep concern and strong condemnation over the attack on a journalist of Somoy Television,

In the statement, he said, “On September 4, inside the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Hasib Ullas Pias, during the bail hearing of journalist Manjurul Alam Panna in an anti-terrorism case with the Shahbagh Police Station, several lawyers physically assaulted ‘Somoy TV’ reporter Asif Mohammad Siam by punching, slapping, and kicking him. As a result, he became seriously injured. I strongly condemn this heinous incident.

He further said, journalists are the mirror of society. Any attack on them gravely undermines freedom of expression, democratic practices, and the environment for independent journalism. Such a dreadful incident inside a courtroom is absolutely unacceptable.

I call upon the government to ensure the security of journalists and to promptly arrest the attackers and bring them to bring them under the law.”