03 May 2010
Foteh Osmani
Knife attack
Foteh Osmani, a correspondent of Bangladesh's top weekly Shaptahik 2000, died from injuries suffered when unidentified armed assailants attacked him when he was riding on a motorcycle two weeks earlier.
In a letter to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Reporters Without Borders expressed concern about the incident, saying it "cast doubt" on the government's desire to ensure a favourable media environment. "We urge you to order an exhaustive investigation into Foteh Osmani's murder in order to establish the identity and motives of those responsible and bring them to justice," the group's secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said.
Osmani's "assailants clearly set an ambush for him even if their motives are not yet known," Julliard said in the letter. Shaptahik 2000 is the South Asian country's highest-circulation Bengali weekly and is known for its hard-hitting investigative reports on corruption and social problems.
