German envoy meets Imran Sarker, condemns blogger killing

The Chargé d’Affaires of German Embassy in Bangladesh, Dr Ferdinand von Weyhe, yesterday held a meeting with Dr Imran Sarker, convener of Gonojagoron Moncho, to discuss ‘the recent attacks on liberal internet activists’ in the country. Mentioning Imran ‘a representative of the blogger community’, a German Embassy press release said, “In his conversation with Dr Sarker, Chargé d’Affaires Dr von Weyhe emphasised that the German government strongly condemns the murder of Niladri Chaterjee that occurred in Dhaka last Friday.
“Yes, I had a meeting with the German diplomat. We talked about the killings of bloggers in the country,” Imran Sarker told The Independent. Neither the German Embassy press release nor Imran Sarker mentioned the venue of the meeting. “I don’t want to speak about the venue,” Sarker said.    
“This barbaric assault on an outspoken member of the blogger community is the latest attack on the freedom of expression in Bangladesh. A society needs to practise tolerance and cannot allow extremists to dictate the actions and words of liberal minds,” said the press release quoting the German envoy.  
Dr Sarker and Chargé d’Affaires Dr von Weyhe discussed options to protect bloggers and internet activists in Bangladesh, it said. Furthermore, they spoke about measures to limit the reach of terror organisations, said the release, adding that the German Embassy has been working on protection of journalists in Bangladesh for numerous years and has undertaken several projects on de-radicalisation. “This is the fourth murder of a liberal blogger in Bangladesh in the past six months. This creates a general atmosphere of fear amongst the liberal minds in Bangladesh. I call upon the government of Bangladesh to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of internet activists in this country, to strengthen the freedom of expression for every citizen irrespectively of their opinions and to do its utmost for a quick investigation into the murders. The culprits that committed these horrible crimes must be brought to justice,” underlined Dr von Weyhe.

German envoy meets Imran Sarker, condemns blogger killing

The Charg dAffaires of German Embassy in Bangladesh, Dr Ferdinand von Weyhe, yesterday held a meeting with Dr Imran Sarker, convener of Gonojagoron Moncho, to discuss the recent attacks on liberal internet activists in the country. Mentioning Imran a representative of the blogger community, a German Embassy press release said, In his conversation with Dr Sarker, Charg dAffaires Dr von Weyhe emphasised that the German government strongly condemns the murder of Niladri Chaterjee that occurred in Dhaka last Friday. Yes, I had a meeting with the German diplomat. We talked about the killings of bloggers in the country, Imran Sarker told The Independent. Neither the German Embassy press release nor Imran Sarker mentioned the venue of the meeting. I dont want to speak about the venue, Sarker said. This barbaric assault on an outspoken member of the blogger community is the latest attack on the freedom of expression in Bangladesh. A society needs to practise tolerance and cannot allow extremists to dictate the actions and words of liberal minds, said the press release quoting the German envoy. Dr Sarker and Charg dAffaires Dr von Weyhe discussed options to protect bloggers and internet activists in Bangladesh, it said. Furthermore, they spoke about measures to limit the reach of terror organisations, said the release, adding that the German Embassy has been working on protection of journalists in Bangladesh for numerous years and has undertaken several projects on de-radicalisation. This is the fourth murder of a liberal blogger in Bangladesh in the past six months. This creates a general atmosphere of fear amongst the liberal minds in Bangladesh. I call upon the government of Bangladesh to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of internet activists in this country, to strengthen the freedom of expression for every citizen irrespectively of their opinions and to do its utmost for a quick investigation into the murders. The culprits that committed these horrible crimes must be brought to justice, underlined Dr von Weyhe.