Three years after Tripura journalist Santanu Bhowmik murder, family is still waiting for justice

Agartala, Tripura: Three years after journalist Santanu Bhowmik was hacked to death while covering a political protest at Mandwi village in Tripura, his family is still waiting for justice.

Santanu Bhowmik, a journalist with Channel DinRaat, a local cable television channel, was killed on September 20, 2017. Speaking to indianexpress.com, Santanu’s mother Papri Nag Bhowmik, 55, Sunday said she wants to see her son get justice before she dies. Bhowmik, who serves in a clerical position with the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), said: “My son is gone. I just want to see his criminals brought to justice before I die. What else can I ask for?”

Santanu’s sister Pinki Bhowmik, who was pursuing BSc in Horticulture outside Tripura at the time of his death, has now finished her studies and is staying with her mother. His estranged father Sadhan Bhowmik, who had expressed distrust in the then-Left government’s probe and sought CBI inquiry, could not be reached for comment.

Barely two months after Santanu’s killing, Sudip Dutta Bhowmik, of Syandan Patrika, a local Bengali newspaper, was shot inside Tripura State Rifles (TSR) 2nd battalion headquarters at RK Nagar in West Tripura on November 21. Their murders had been among the key issues on which Tripura’s 2018 Assembly polls were fought.

Then-ruling CPI(M) had accused Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) cadres of being involved in Santanu’s killing. However, IPFT, now a partner in the state government with the BJP, had rubbished the allegations. 

The Left Front government had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the issue, a move opposed by journalists, who demanded a CBI probe.

This demand found place in the BJP’s Vision Document for the Assembly polls, and shortly after taking charge, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb handed over the case to the CBI. However, two years later, journalists are angry with the slow progress of the investigation. On Sunday, several memorial programmes were held for Santanu, where the demand to bring his killers to book was repeated.

Santanu’s news channel remembered him in a programme Sunday morning. Samir Dhar, Executive Editor of Channel DinRaat, offered floral tributes in memory of the late journalist and said, “We haven’t got justice for Santanu’s death yet. He was working to expose people conspiring to destabilise peace in the state. He was brutally killed”.

A group of journalists under the banner of Tripura Assembly of Journalists (TAJ) held a condolence meeting in Santanu’s memory in front of Rabindra Shatabarshiki Bhawan in Agartala.

TAJ Chairerson Subal Kumar Dey said, “Justice for Santanu is yet to come. The entire family is helpless today, though the previous government paid Rs 10 lakh compensation to them. The incumbent government has handed over investigation to the CBI, but is not interested in actual progress.” A separate condolence meeting was held at the Agartala Press Club, where club secretary Pranab Sarkar offered tributes to Santanu.

India: Delhi Journalist Rajeev Sharma arrested on charges of spying, sold sensitive information to Chinese intelligence agencies

New Delhi: A freelance journalist who was arrested on charges of spying two days ago, was allegedly passing on sensitive information to Chinese intelligence agencies, said Delhi police on saturday, claiming to have a busted a major spying operation amid soaring tensions between the two countries.

The Delhi Police said it has also arrested a Chinese woman and her Nepalese associate, and claimed that they were paying huge amounts of money to the freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma for allegedly providing sensitive information."Special Cell has arrested a freelance journalist, Rajeev Sharma, for passing sensitive information to Chinese intelligence. One Chinese lady and her Nepalese associate have also been arrested for paying him large amounts of money routed through shell companies. Chinese intelligence tasked the journalist for conveying sensitive information in lieu of large amounts of money," the police said.

"Huge number of mobile phones, laptops and other incriminating and sensitive material have been recovered," the police said. Mr Sharma, a journalist accredited with the Press Information Bureau (PIB) who lived in Delhi's Pitampura, was arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Monday.

"He was found to be in possession of some classified defence-related documents. The investigation is in progress and further details will be shared in due course," senior police officer Sanjeev Kumar Yadav had said on Friday.

According to the police, Mr Sharma was getting $1,000 for each piece of information and was paid Rs. 30 lakh in one-and-a-half years. He wrote on defence-related issues for China's Global Times and was contacted by Chinese agents in 2016, the police said.

Sharply criticising the arrest the "well-known independent journalist of long standing", the Press Club of India (PCI) called the move "high-handed" and alleged that it "may be inspired by obscure or questionable considerations".

"This is on account of the dubious track record of the Special Cell. More generally also, the record of Delhi Police is hardly a shining one," it said.

"Of late, Delhi Police, including its Special Cell, have made preposterous arrests under the lawless law called UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) in which the word of the government is enough to keep an innocent person behind bars for long periods. These have happened in matters relating to anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protests and the carefully designed communal killings in the so-called February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi," the PCI said. 

The arrests come amid a months-long border standoff between India and China in Ladakh that peaked on June 15, when 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the line of duty - a first in more than four decades. Even after that, there have been repeated attempts by the Chinese troops to recapture the heights occupied by the Indian soldiers.

27-year-old female TV journalist Murdered in Pakistan, Five bullets were fired in Balochistan

Islamabad, Pakistan: A woman journalist was shot dead at her home in Turbat area of Balochistan’s Kech district on Saturday evening allegedly by her husband, police said.

Shaheena Shaheen, was a local anchor at PTV

This is the latest incident in a series of gruesome examples of domestic violence in Pakistan. The victim- Shaheena Shaheen, was a local anchorperson at PTV and editor of a local magazine. She was also a student of fine arts at the University Of Balochistan. It is believed her husband killed Shaheen because she was becoming famous in her area, a conservative part of Balochistan. In a report compiled in 2018, it was estimated that 50 people, including 30 women, had been killed in the name of honour in Balochistan.

The report was compiled by The Aurat Foundation- a non-governmental organisation- working for protection of the rights of women and shared with the public at a press conference in Quetta, the provincial capital. According to programme officer Muhammad Ashfaq Mengal, the victims were mostly killed by close relatives, including husbands, brothers and other relatives in the name of so-called honour and small family feuds.

This seems to be the case behind the death of Shaheen as well. “The killing was the result of domestic violence,” Kech superintendent of police Najeebullah Pandrani said, adding that police were investigating the murder. He said no arrests had been made so far. However, Shaheen’s family lodged a first information report (FIR) against her husband, whom she married five months ago. Her body was shifted to her residence for burial, police said.

Slovakia: Court acquitted the businessman in the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak, victim family disappointed

Pezinok, Slovakia: A panel of judges in Slovakia has acquitted a businessman accused of masterminding the slayings of an investigative journalist and his fiancee. Judge Ruzena Sabova at the Specialized Criminal Court in Pezinok announced the verdict on Thursday.

The verdict, handed down by a special criminal court that handles the country’s most serious cases, can be appealed in Slovakia’s Supreme Court. It is likely to draw scrutiny, because the murder ignited outrage across Slovakia and led to calls for reform. The journalist, Jan Kuciak, 27, was shot and killed with his fiancée, Martina Kusnirova, in February 2018 in his home in Velka Maca, a village outside Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava.

Their bodies were discovered days after the murder, and as evidence mounted that Mr. Kuciak was the target of an assassination, the killings set off the largest nationwide protests since the 1989 Velvet Revolution. The protests brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets calling for a thorough investigation and condemning the systemic corruption that has long plagued the small Central European nation.


The victim’s families left the courtroom, many in tears, after the judge announced the verdict, saying they would appeal to the Supreme Court. “I’m very disappointed — I expected more of our justice system,” said Jozef Kuciak, the murdered journalist’s father. “But we’re definitely not giving up.”

Calls to restart investigation on #JanKuciak and Martina Kusnirova murders, "only then our faith in justice in Slovakia will be restored", IPI Vice Chair and @denniksme editor-in-chief @BalogovaBeata says

Full statement: https://t.co/USaLeddH9s pic.twitter.com/NTRig84zig

— IPI - The Global Network for Press Freedom (@globalfreemedia) September 3, 2020

The verdict came as a shock to many observers in Slovakia, and experts said it was likely to exacerbate the distrust that many Slovaks already have for the justice system and rule of law in their country.

“Despite the fact that I respect the decision of the court, I think justice was not found today,” said Michal Vasecka, a sociologist at the Bratislava Policy Institute. “And what is much worse, I think nobody ever looked for it in the first place.” The murders shocked the country and led to calls for sweeping reforms.

“The murder of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova has opened a window of opportunities, reflected by the society in a mass movement,” said Erik Lastic, the head of the political science department at Comenius University in Bratislava.

But the acquittal of Mr. Kocner and one of his associates, Alena Zsuzsovs, is likely to attract renewed scrutiny to the system. Another man on trial for the crime — Tomas Szabo, a former soldier — was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Russia To Keep former newspaper journalist Accused of Treason Behind Bars: Court

Moscow: A Russian court on Wednesday ordered former newspaper journalist Ivan Safronov to be kept in custody for another three months pending trial on charges of state treason that have sent a chill through Russia’s media landscape.

Safronov, who left journalism and began working at Russia’s space agency in May, was detained by security agents outside his flat on July 7 and accused of passing military secrets to the Czech Republic in 2017, a charge he denies. He could face up to two decades in jail if found guilty at a trial that is likely to be held behind closed doors because of the sensitive nature of the charges.

Some Russian journalists and rights advocates fear he is the victim of a crackdown on the media and that the secrecy surrounding the case is being used to conceal bogus charges. 

Safronov committed the alleged crime when working as a journalist covering military affairs for the Kommersant newspaper.

Georgia man who struck female reporter's rear pleads guilty to sexual battery, Imprisonment for one year

Georgia, US: A Georgia man who was seen slapping a female reporter's rear on live TV pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery. Thomas Callaway was sentenced to a year on probation and fined $1,000 after entering his plea, according to records filed in Chatham County Recorder's Court. The judge also ordered him to perform 200 hours of community service. 

Callaway, 44, was arrested and charged in December after he was caught on camera swatting the rear end of WSAV-TV reporter Alex Bozarjian as she was reporting live on a Savannah road race. Callaway was running in the race and reached out to strike a stunned Bozarjian as he passed her. A video clip of the incident was viewed millions of times on social media.

Check out this jerk smacking a @WSAV reporter's ass live on air. And sorry, that's my kiddo making horribly timed weird noises in the background. pic.twitter.com/6tzi6P1Jbo

— Tonya (@GrrrlZilla) December 7, 2019

"He took my power, and I'm trying to take that back," Bozarjian told "CBS This Morning" in December, adding, "I think what it really comes down to is that he helped himself to a part of my body." Under Georgia law, sexual battery is punishable by up a year in jail.

Before his arrest last year, Callaway gave an on-camera apology and said he never intended to slap the reporter's rear. He said he was raising his arm trying to pat her on the back or the shoulder and did not realize until seeing the video that he had touched her buttocks. 


"All I really hope is that, going forward in the future, he will do better," Bozarjian told WSAV-TV  after court Tuesday. "While I understand that this has probably disrupted his life more than he ever imagined," she said, "nobody has a right to touch anybody or slap anybody for their own amusement."

Bozarjian told CBS News in December the encounter made her feel "extremely vulnerable." "I would say the reason why maybe it caught so much fire is because the emotion is extremely relatable for women all over the world," she said.  


There are a number of accounts of female reporters being harassed while doing their jobs. A 2018 survey by the International Women's Media Foundation reported 58% of female journalists surveyed indicated they had been threatened or harassed in person, and 26% said they had been physically attacked.


Last year, a reporter was kissed on air by a man while covering a music festival in Kentucky. In 2018, multiple reporters were subject to kiss attempts by strangers during live reports from the World Cup in Russia.