The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Bangladeshi authorities to immediately release journalists Farzana Rupa and Mozammel Babu, who were ordered arrested on 14 May 2025 by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in a crimes-against-humanity case linked to the 2013 Shapla Chattar crackdown in Dhaka. The New York-based press freedom organisation warned that using the tribunal to target media professionals violates both Bangladesh's constitution and international human rights norms.

What the ICT Ordered

A bench headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder ordered that Rupa, Babu, and former minister Dipu Moni be shown arrested in connection with the case, sending them to jail. The tribunal set 7 June as the deadline for submission of the investigation report.

Prosecutors allege that Rupa, in a report aired on Ekattor TV following the Shapla Chattar incident, used statements from 'controversial individuals' and disseminated 'misleading information' that diverted public attention from killings during the crackdown. Babu, who served as managing director of the channel at the time, is accused of overseeing the broadcast as part of what the chief prosecutor described as a 'systematic' effort to conceal the death toll. The CPJ noted it could not independently verify the Ekattor TV broadcasts cited as evidence by the prosecution.

CPJ's Argument Against the Charges

'Editorial decisions on covering a contested political incident are not crimes against humanity, and using an international criminal law framework to punish journalists circumvents the basic protections guaranteed to the press under Bangladesh's own constitution while also violating international human rights conventions,' said CPJ Asia-Pacific Program Coordinator Kunal Majumder.

'Bangladeshi authorities must stop weaponising the international criminal tribunal to target journalists and immediately release Farzana Rupa and Mozammel Babu,' he added.

Pre-Trial Detention and Bail Developments

Rupa has been held in pre-trial detention since August 2024 and Babu since September 2024, both in connection with separate murder cases linked to deaths during the July 2024 protests that ousted the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government. On 11 May 2025, the Dhaka High Court granted Rupa ad-interim bail in six of those cases — but she remains in custody because of pending charges, including the ICT case.

Background: The ICT's Evolving Mandate

The ICT was originally constituted in 2010 under the Awami League government to prosecute crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Following the political transition of August 2024, the tribunal was reconstituted and its governing law amended by the interim government — then led by Muhammad Yunus — to prosecute figures associated with the Hasina administration. Sheikh Hasina herself was sentenced to death in absentia in November 2025. Critics argue the tribunal's expanding use against journalists and political opponents raises serious due-process concerns.

The ICT case against Rupa and Babu represents the most direct use of the tribunal against working journalists to date, and press freedom advocates warn it could have a chilling effect on media coverage of politically sensitive events in Bangladesh.