Bangladesh restricts journalists from entering secretariat due to 'security reasons'

Bangladesh’s interim government has revoked journalists’ accreditation cards, citing security concerns, effectively barring them from entering the Secretariat.

The home ministry issued the order on Friday, imposing restrictions on media access to the administrative headquarters in Segunbagicha, Dhaka. The Secretariat houses most of the country’s ministries and government agencies.

Earlier, the Press Information Department (PID) issued accreditation cards to journalists, enabling them to gather news from the Secretariat.

“Access to the Secretariate through accreditation cards issued in favor of journalists is hereby canceled until further orders”, a press released from the home ministry said.

The office of the Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has cited safety and security reasons for his decision to restrict journalists’ access to the Secretariat.“The decision to restrict journalists’ access to the Secretariat was taken in view of the safety and security of the Key Point Installation (KPI), which was hit by a devastating fire this week”, Chief Adviser’s office said in a statement on Saturday.

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“The government will soon review the existing press accreditation cards and invite fresh applications from all the local and international news outlets for the Press Information Department to issue new accreditation cards”, it added.

According to the statement, temporary daily access cards will be issued by respective ministries for any press events.

“In the meantime, temporary daily access cards will be issued by respective ministries for any press events. The government regrets the inconvenience and seeks cooperation from journalists”, the Chief Adviser’s office said.

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With inputs from agencies.