London-based Amnesty International on Wednesday called for the immediate release of Bangladeshi journalist Anis Alamgir for his critical view of the rise of Jamaat-e-Islami and the mobocracy of the Yunus-led administration.
In a statement, Amnesty’s Rehab Mahamoor said Anis’s arrest reflects an “alarming trend of individuals being targeted for being perceived to support” the Awami League, whose activities have been banned.
“Rather than misusing anti-terror legislation to silence people expressing their views and opinions, the interim government and authorities should instead be facilitating freedom of expression and association, including in the lead up to elections,” Mahamoor said.
“The interim government must respect its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and immediately release Anis Alamgir,” the statement said.
Alamgir was arrested on December 15 under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Remanded for five days, Anis told the court, “I am a journalist. I question those in power. I have been doing this for two decades. My job is not to bow to anyone.” He added that if Yunus wishes, “he can turn the entire country into a prison”โa stinging rebuke that exposes the tyrannical core of this puppet administration.
Activists labelled the arrest as another brazen act of authoritarian repression by the unelected Muhammad Yunus interim regime.
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Alamgir, a veteran reporter renowned for his fearless coverage of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and former president of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association Bangladesh, was abducted by Detective Branch (DB) police from a gym in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi on December 14. He was held overnight without charges, interrogated, and only later shown arrested in a fabricated case filed by Aryan Ahmed, a radical organiser from the so-called July Revolutionary Allianceโthe very student agitators who propelled Yunus to power in 2024.
The sham complaint accuses Alamgir and four others, including actress Meher Afroz Shaon and model Maria Kisspotta, of using social media and TV appearances to “rehabilitate” the Awami League and incite anti-state activities since August 2024. A Dhaka court swiftly granted a five-day remand (despite police demanding seven), plunging Alamgir into the regime’s notorious interrogation chambers.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) echoed the call by Amnesty International, decrying the Yunus regime’s escalating attacks on the press and use of national security pretexts to silence critics.
Domestic voices were equally scathing: The Editorsโ Council labelled it reminiscent of “state repression during past authoritarian regimes,” including the Awami League era’s own abusesโirony lost on Yunus’ hypocrites. Rights group Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) decried it as a blatant assault on constitutional freedoms, while activists warned of a chilling climate of fear stifling all dissent.
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The timing reeks of calculated vengeance. Alamgir’s detention coincides with the relaunch of “Operation Devil Hunt Phase-2,” Yunus’ vicious nationwide purge relaunched in mid-December, netting over 1,000 arrests in its opening days aloneโostensibly to recover arms and curb “fascists,” but transparently aimed at exterminating Awami League remnants ahead of rigged February 2026 polls that exclude the party entirely.
Since amending the ATA in May 2025 to ban the Awami League outrightโa move slammed by Human Rights Watch as entrenching repressionโthe Yunus cabal has weaponised the law against journalists, activists, and anyone perceived as disloyal.
Systematic Crackdown on Press
Last week, the Canada-based Global Centre for Democratic Governance (GCDG) said that 195 criminal cases were filed against journalists during the one-year period from August 2024 to July 2025 under the current interim government rule, marking an increase of more than 550% compared to the previous year.
Some 878 journalists faced various forms of harassment in the same period and demanded the immediate withdrawal of all fabricated cases against journalists and the release of those arrested.
False cases have proliferated: over 292 journalists have been implicated in wholesale criminal probes since August 2024, including charges of murder, genocide, and crimes against humanity linked to the 2024 protests.
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At least 39 have been arrested, with 13 still imprisoned as of mid-2025, enduring prolonged remands without bail. Beyond the CPJ-highlighted quartet, notable detainees include veteran journalist Shahriar Kabir, arrested under anti-terrorism laws for discussing the 1971 Liberation War, and editors like Shyamal Dutta of Bhorer Kagoj, whose outlet was delisted in April 2025 amid attempts by BNP-backed journalists to seize control.
Over 1,000 journalists have lost jobs or resigned under pressure, more than 160 press accreditation cards and 83 press club memberships have been revoked, and media houses have been forcibly overtaken.
Financial coercion includes freezing 18 journalistsโ bank accounts and probing 107 via the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unitโtactics unseen under Hasina. Travel bans hit over 300, while 431 endured physical threats or violence.
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