Gautam Das ( – November 17, 2005) was a Bangladeshi print journalist and bureau chief for Dainik Samakal in Faridpur, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh when he was murdered in his office. He was known for his reporting on crime and corruption throughout the area.
Personal
Das was 33 at the time of his death. Das's widow is Dipali Das. Guatam Das is now buried at Chandidashi village of Bhanga Upazila in Faridpur, Bangladesh. On the 9th anniversary of his death, journalist Gautam Das Memorial Association, Faridpur Press Club, and Samakal Surid Samabesh provided various programs to remember the day.
Career
Das was well respected for his reports exposing corruption. He was the Faridpur bureau chief of the Dainik Samakal. He was a journalist for print media. A short time before his murder, Das had published a series of reports for the Dhaka-based daily Samakal, which detailed illegal activity corruption by Bangladesh Nationalist Party officials. In addition, The Associated Press reported Das having written about local government officials accused of taking bribes in exchange for construction contract awards.
Death
Gautam Das was found killed in his office on November 17, 2005. In his office, he was found to be strangled and his hands and legs were fractured. Journalists' leaders in Dhaka protested the killing of Das and gave a three-day ultimatum to the government to arrest the killers. On November 19, 2005, police arrested Tamjid Hossain Babu, 35. Babu is the son of a former Bangladesh Awami League lawmaker. He was arrested from his residence, followed by being produced in court where he was placed on a seven-day remand.
On June 27, 2013, nine assailants were convicted of killing Gautam Das. The Dhaka court sentenced Asif Imran, Asif Imtiaz Bulu, Zahid Khan, Kamrul Islam Apon, Asad Bin Kadir, Siddiqur Rahman Miah, Tamjid Hossain Babu, Rajib Hassan Miah, Abu Taher Mohammad Mortuza Ahsan (Appollo Biswas) to a life in prison. Of these nine convicts, eight are junior politicians belonging to the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
It was confirmed in court that they had killed Gautam Das for publishing news on the corruption of Faridpur Mujib Road repairing works in the newspaper.
Of the nine convicts, Appollo went in hiding on June 19, 2013, after the court had fixed June 27, 2013 for delivering the judgment in the case. Punishment of Appollo was effective from the day of his arrest or surrender, added by the court. Judge Shahed Noor Uddin also fined 50,000 each and in default they will have to suffer one additional year in jail. During the court date, 27 prosecution witnesses were recorded. The case remained a High Court order for a long while, but charges were framed against the accused on August 15, 2006. An investigation officer on the case pressed charges in the case on January 19, 2006, showing 31 people as prosecution witnesses. During the trial, the judge of the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal, Shahed Nuruddin, called Das “brave, fearless, honest” and a crusader against social injustice and graft as he handed down life sentences to the nine accused.
Context
Attacks on Bangladesh's ethnic and religious minorities has been on the rise for many years according to Desh Rights.
Regarding the case, a colleague of Das called the police after repeatedly failing to contact him by phone and his work door remained locked throughout the day. Police had eventually busted Das' office door down to find his body inside. Colleagues were not aware of any threats against the reporter, but did note the journalist wrote on sensitive topics such as Islamic militant group activities.
Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) condemned the killing. Leaders from both of these organizations demanded the arrest and punishment to perpetrators of the murder.
Bangladesh was ranked to be among the fourteen countries worldwide with the worst record of violence against journalists/bloggers, and 19th deadliest country for the press. Since 1992, at least 27 journalists and freelancers have been killed in Bangladesh. However, with Bangladesh being so high in violence against these individuals, only one case—Gautam Das—has had its perpetrators tried and convicted. The motives behind the crimes have only been confirmed in 19 of these cases and the remaining eight are determined unconfirmed.