Seeking bank account details of 11 journalist leaders is a new strategy of the government to intimidate the media workers, says BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

In a statement on Monday, he said journalists are not spared from repressive acts carried out across the country by the current “authoritarian and fascist” government.

“This is another new tactic of intimidating journalists by seeking the bank account details of the presidents and general secretaries of the Jatiya Press Club, BUJ, DUJ and DRU after making various efforts to suppress them,” Fakhrul said.

He said this unprecedented incident is an extreme threat to independent journalism and freedom of expression in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of the Bangladesh Bank issued letters to the commercial banks asking for details of bank accounts of 11 journalist leaders last week.

Fakhrul said the government is not only oppressing the opposition leaders, human rights activists and dissidents, but also the journalists to perpetuate its power. “The incident of seeking the bank account details of 11 journalist leaders is the manifestation of that."