“Sheikh Hasina's government approved this draconian bill in a rush in order to take advantage of its majority in parliament, the Jatiya Sangsad, before the parliamentary elections scheduled for January 2024. We call for this bill to be abandoned and for the 2018  Digital Security Act to be repealed. We also urge the Bangladeshi authorities to quickly take firm measures to ensure that journalists are duly protected in what is a politically charged environment. Acts of violence against media professionals are becoming only too common. Such violence, including online violence, must no longer go unpunished. The proposed CSA reduces the penalty for certain offences by journalists but the offences are still not precisely defined, which leaves the authorities a great deal of leeway to interpret it as they see fit. The bill still awaits approval by parliament, which reconvened on 3 September for this legislature’s last session. If passed, the CSA will replace the DSA with immediate effect, which means that cases already opened since 2018 will automatically be judged under this dangerous new law. Judicial harassment Journalists’ work is also threatened by the judiciary’s readiness to prevent them from investigating ruling party officials and other local power-holders. The latest example are the warrants issued in the southeastern city of Cox’s Bazar on 27 August for the arrests of Sharifuzzaman Pintu, the former editor of the Dainik Bangla daily newspaper, and one of his reporters, Arifuzzaman Tuhin. The warrants were issued after they did not respond to a summons to appear before a magistrate's court in Cox's Bazar by 27 August on a defamation charge for reporting a journalist’s alleged involvement in drug trafficking in early January. The two journalists say they never received any summons to appear in court and insist they would have appeared if they had received one. Harassment of exile journalists’ families Even when they are forced into exile, the authorities persecute journalists by targeting their families. RSF already reported in September 2022 that, in order to pressure Shamsul Alam Liton, the editor of Weekly Surma, a London-based English and Bengali-language weekly that is particularly critical of the Hasina government, and one of his reporters, Abdur Rab Bhuttow, the authorities had arrested their brothers. Intelligence agents are now threatening to abduct Liton’s two sisters and their families if he does not stop his reporting. Frequent physical violence The past month has also seen acts of physical violence attacks against journalists while they were out reporting. On 26 August, no fewer than seven journalists were roughed up in the southern city of Barisal while trying to cover a case of hazing at the medical faculty involving the Chhatra League, the student branch of the Awami League, Bangladesh’s ruling party since 2009. The head of the local branch of privately-owned Channel 24, Kausar Hossain Rana, and cameraman Ruhul Amin were manhandled by the head of the faculty and two teachers. Faculty staff also attacked the head of Asian Television’s local branch, Firoze Mostafa, and his cameraman. Two Time Television journalists, reporter Shaqil Mahmud and cameraman Sumon Hasan, and BanglaNews24.com website reporter Mushfiq Sourav were also targeted.