Sagar-Runi murder

Journos demonstrate in front of Secretariat

. Staff Reporter
Journalists in the capital on Tuesday demonstrated in front of Bangladesh Secretariat demanding justice for the murdered journalist couple Sagar-Runi overlooking repeated police barricades.
Some 200 police stood in the way of the angry protesters who were physically barred by security officials after they intercepted the parading journalists at least thrice as they tried to move toward the Secretariat gate.
The protesting journalists faced hurdles at the National Press Club gate in the first place, then in front of the Paltan Police box and finally at the Secretariat gate on Abdul Ghani Road.
As police put bar on the first group of the protesters, another group attempted to proceed towards the Secretariat gate through the link road on the east side of the National Press Club.
But being stopped they took a sit-in there and the journalists leaders
announced a fresh protest programme from there. Under the new programme journalists will now march towards the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on June 26 to press home their demands.
Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, president of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), made the announcement from the sit-in programme on the link road. It was also addressed by the president of another BFUJ president Ruhul Amin Gazi and other DUJ leaders.
The demands include punishment of the killers of the journo couple, earlier
killings of newsmen, ensuring safety to journalists and a secured environment for discharging of duties, stopping oppression and freedom of mass media.
Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), Dhaka Union
of Journalists (DUJ), Jatiya Press Club, Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) and Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) observed the protest programme.
Sagar Sarowar, news editor of Maasranga TV, and his wife Meherun Runi, senior reporter at ATN Bangla, were found murdered on February 10 at their rented flat in West Rajabazar in the capital.
Under the new programme, leaders of different journalists' unions, editors of different newspapers and senior journalists of various electronic and print media will march towards the PMO to submit a memo to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to realize their demands.
Journalists will also hand over a memo to the Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad on June 5 demanding introduction of a law for safety of journalists and freedom of the mass media.

21 May, 2013 Tuesday

Sagar-Runi murder

Journos demonstrate in front of Secretariat