Director-General calls for investigation into the killing of publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today denounced the killing of Bangladeshi publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan on 31 October.
“I condemn the killing of Faisal Arefin Dipan,” the Director-General said. “I urge the authorities to investigate this case thoroughly and bring those responsible for it to justice.”
The head of the Jagriti Prokashoni publishing company was killed in his office in Dhaka by a group of unidentified men. He was the publisher of Bangladeshi writer and web journalist Avijit Roy, killed earlier this year.
The Director-General of UNESCO issues statements on the killing of media workers in line with Resolution 29 adopted by UNESCO Member States at the Organization’s General Conference of 1997, entitled “Condemnation of Violence against Journalists.” These statements are posted on a dedicated webpage, UNESCO condemns the killing of journalists.
****
Media contact: Sylvie Coudray, s.coudray(at)unesco.org, +33 (0)1 45 68 42 12
UNESCO is the United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this the Organization is requested to “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image…”
<- Back to: News articles