NOAB expresses concern over cancellation of accreditation cards of journalists

The Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (NOAB), in a meeting, expressed grave concern at the government’s decision to cancel the accreditation cards of over one hundred journalists.

“NOAB thinks the step presents a not-so-good image of the interim government that is promise-bound to improve press freedom and expression of opinion. The nation does not want to go back to the dark days of the past many years”, the association said in a press statement on Tuesday.

“We, the members of NOAB, consider the recent step regarding the withdrawal of the Accreditation Cards an affront to free press”, it said.  

The axe has fallen, among others, on the owner and publisher-editor of the oldest newspaper of the country, NOAB said in the statement.

The association requested the interim government to restore these accreditation cards immediately so that the new environment of freedom the government is trying hard to establish can be strengthened.

The issue requires urgent and judicious reconsideration, NOAB added.