DRU Demands Justice for Journalist Couple Sagar-Runi’s Murder from Bangladesh’s New Democratic Government

The Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), the leading organization of professional journalists in Bangladesh, has issued a fresh and urgent call to the newly formed democratic government to ensure justice for the brutal murder of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi.

On Monday, April 6, during a protest rally held on the DRU premises, journalists expressed deep resentment over the 14-year-long judicial stalemate. The rally was presided over by DRU President Abu Saleh Akon and moderated by General Secretary Mainul Hasan Sohel.

Sagar Sarowar, News Editor of Machranga Television, and Meherun Runi, Senior Reporter of ATN Bangla, were brutally murdered in their Dhaka residence on February 11, 2012. Since then, the deadline for submitting the investigation report of this case has been deferred an unprecedented 125 times.

Addressing the gathering, DRU President Abu Saleh Akon stated, The current democratic government has been in power for only a month and a half. We hope this leadership will ensure justice for this murder through peaceful and constructive means.’

He warned that if this government fails, it will bear the same burden of failure as its predecessors. He noted that the case has spanned five different administrations- including the long-standing Awami League regime, several controversial election-based governments, an interim government, and the current BNP-led administration. ‘Five governments have come and gone, yet the progress in investigating this mysterious murder remains at zero- which is unacceptable in any civilized society,’ he added.

DRU General Secretary Mainul Hasan Sohel remarked, ‘No previous government actually intended to investigate this murder. If they had, it wouldn’t have taken 14 years. There is no precedent in history for the investigation report of a sensational murder case being delayed so many times.’

The DRU has announced a new phase in its ongoing struggle for justice:

9th April: A formal memorandum will be submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Information.

Warning: If no positive assurance is received, the journalist community is prepared to announce nationwide large-scale programs.

Commitment: Leaders vowed to continue the movement through successive generations of leadership- even ‘until doomsday’- to ensure justice for their colleagues.

Despite the political shift, the humanitarian wounds remain unhealed. Sagar’s elderly and ailing mother, Saleha Monir, continues to wait for the trial of her son and daughter-in-law’s killers. Their son, Mahir Sarowar Megh, who was only five at the time of the murder, is now an 18-year-old youth still searching for answers to his childhood tragedy.

For Pressenza, the global news agency focusing on nonviolence and human rights, the Sagar-Runi case stands as a stark reminder of the ‘culture of impunity’ that takes root when influential quarters influence the judiciary. The demand by Dhaka journalists to declare February 11 as ‘Journalist Protection Day’ resonates with the global struggle for media freedom and safety.

The recent change of power in Bangladesh has ignited a new ray of hope. All eyes are now on the current administration: will they prove that the rule of law is stronger than the power of the influential?

The rally was addressed by former DRU president Sakhawat Hossain Badsha, Syed Shukur Ali Shuvo, former general secretary Raju Ahmed, former general secretary of DUJ Jahangir Alam Pradhan, joint secretary of DUJ Didarul Alam, general secretary of Bangladesh Photojournalist Association Babul Talukder, Head of News of Maasranga Television Hamidul Haque, and joint secretary of DRU Md. Zafar Iqbal, office secretary, Rashim Molla, women’s affairs secretary, Jannatul Ferdous Panna, information technology and training secretary, Mahmud Sohel, cultural secretary, Md. Monowar Hossain, former joint secretary, Nadia Sharmin, former training and research secretary, Mashiur Rahman, permanent members Qudrat-e Khoda, Gazi Abu Bakar, Manoj Roy, Harun-ur Rashid, DM Amirul Islam Amar, and Obaid Angshuman.

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Sheikh Mohammad Arif: Senior Journalist and Panel Editor, Pressenza- Dhaka Bureau.