Democracy of Freedom of Expression

7351 Words30 Pages
A Critical Anylisis on Freedom Of Press In Bangladesh. Submitted to, Dr. Rizwanul Islam Course Instructor- LAW 402, Legal Research and Methodology BRAC University Submitted by, Yasir Adnan 09309005 School of Law BRAC University Date: 20 August, 2013 *Word Count: 6,740 without abstract, footnotes and bibliography Abstract The main objective of this research paper is to find how freedom of press, especially newspapers, has been and is being violated in Bangladesh and secondly how and why misuse their press freedom. From 1972 to 2013, the press freedom came under attacks on several occasions. Although Bangladesh’s Constitution guarantees the press freedom, the successive governments continue to curtail press freedom enacting different laws. In fact, all of the political parties coming to power seem to have a tendency to control newspapers. Bangladesh has a number of both colonial and post-independent laws affecting the press. The laws include Official Secrets Act 1923, Contempt of Courts Act 1926, Printing Presses and Publications Act 1973, Press Council Act 1974 and Special Powers Act 1974, Right to Information Act 2009 and ICT Act 2006. All these laws were and are used directly or indirectly to interfere with freedom of newspapers. Here, I would try to show how some sections of the aforesaid laws are putting bars on freedom of press and limiting scope of the journalists’ works. 1. Introduction: To describe the power of the press, it is called the fourth estate among the state organs. Press is powerful when it is free and also responsible. Freedom and responsibility of the press are closely connected. Without free press, there is no democracy as newspapers connect people with the government and provide space for
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