The Debate | Opinion | South Asia

Transitional Justice or Political Retaliation? Bangladesh’s Journalists on Trial 

As Bangladesh’s tribunal for 1971 atrocities is being used to prosecute journalists, the line between accountability and revenge is being tested. 

An estimated 1,400 people died in the July uprising of 2024, which led to Sheikh Hasina’s ouster on August 5, 2024. To contribute to accountability, reconciliation, and a sense of justice for the Bangladeshi people, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) was revived.

Created in 2010 based on the 1973 ICT act, the tribunal was designed to prosecute atrocities committed during the 1971 Liberation War. It was heavily criticized – especially in 2011-2012 but throughout her tenure – for being used by Hasina to put opposition figures on trial for 1971-era crimes. The ICT was seen as politically instrumentalized and lacking due process. 

This year, three journalists and a secular writer were arrested and accused before the ICT of crimes against humanity through incitement in connection with their reporting. They have been imprisoned for almost two years now on a wave of murder charges in the regular courts. Human rights organizations have condemned the murder charges and have raised concerns that the tribunal may now be used against figures associated with the former governing order, including journalists. 

“The crimes committed against the student-led movement in July and August 2024, in which hundreds were killed, demand a proper accounting, and those responsible should face justice,” said Toby Cadman, a human rights lawyer and former advisor to the ICT’s Chief Prosecutor. “The victims and the country are entitled to a process directed at truth, justice and reconciliation rather than retribution, and that makes it all the more important that these trials meet the highest standards of due process – properly particularized charges, timely disclosure, effective access to counsel, and meaningful judicial review of detention.” 

Journalists Entangled in Legal Cases 

Four Bangladeshi journalists – Farzana Rupa, her husband Shakil Ahmed, Mozammel Babu, and Shyamal Dutta – and writer Shahriar Kabir have faced criminal proceedings connected to the uprising. All have been imprisoned since 2024. 

Rupa and Shakil were initially arrested at Dhaka airport on August 21, 2024, in connection with a murder case concerning the death of a garment worker named Fazlul. In the following months, they were produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court several times in connection with new cases. Rupa reportedly faces nine murder cases, while Shakil faces six. 

Mozammel Babu, Shyamal Dutta, and Shahriar Kabir were arrested in September 2024 under similar uprising-related murder charges. 

In a Daily Star interview published on November 21, 2024, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, then head of the interim government, acknowledged that the murder cases filed against journalists had been “done hastily” and distanced the government from the charges. 

His then law adviser, Asif Nazrul, went further at a press-freedom roundtable on June 26, 2025, disclosing that 266 journalists had been sued. He stressed that the cases “were not initiated by the government – they were filed by ordinary citizens,” adding, “[W]e have made it clear that no arrests should be made unless there is substantial evidence.”

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which came to power in February 2026, made its own explicit pledge in its election manifesto to ensure press freedom by reviewing the Digital Security Act, preventing attacks on media outlets, withdrawing politically motivated cases, and ensuring justice for tortured and murdered journalists. Yet neither commitment has translated into relief for the four journalists and one writer. 

Since their arrest in 2024, family members of those accused have filed numerous bail applications, citing lack of evidence, an absence of a prima facie case, and the advanced age or poor health of several defendants – Shahriar Kabir, aged 75, and Babu, who is suffering from cancer. Bail applications for Kabir and Babu have been continuously rejected. On May 11, 2026, the Dhaka High Court granted interim bail to Rupa in six cases and to Shakil in five. The Appellate Division subsequently suspended the bail granted to Rupa and Shakil.

Earlier this year, in a significant escalation, Rupa, Babu, Dutta, and Kabir were all arrested in separate ICT cases. The first case concerns Ekattor TV’s coverage and a subsequent documentary on the 2013 Shapla Chattar crackdown, implicating Rupa, Babu, and Kabir. A second ICT proceeding, initiated in August 2026 concerning the July uprising of 2024, named Rupa, Babu, and Dutta. At the second case’s hearing on August 25, 2026, they were arrested in that case as well. 

The journalists now face proceedings on two tracks. Ordinary criminal charges run through regular courts, where bail can be granted. The ICT proceedings are separate, governed by a distinct legal framework, and involve allegations of crimes against humanity. 

The uncertainty has taken a toll on the families of those detained. Rupa and Shakil’s daughter, Monphool, was only 17 when both of her parents were arrested. She has spent the past two years working for their release, abandoning her own education to advocate for them. 

Monphool described falling asleep and waking up each day “asking the same question – whether today will be the day my mother or father comes home.” She lives in a state of “constant fear that cannot be put down. Ordinary conversations, home-cooked meals together, birthdays, things that most families often take for granted, have been........

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