The International Press Institute (IPI) today strongly condemned the murder of Jamal Uddin, a journalist with the Bengali-language daily newspaper Gramer Kagoj.

According to local news reports, Uddin was attacked by unidentifiable assailants with sharp weapons at a tea stall in the Jessore district, south-western Bangladesh, at 11 pm. on June 15. Local residents rushed the journalist to the Jessore Medical College Hospital where he was pronounced dead at approximately 11:30 pm.

While the motive behind Uddin’s murder remains unclear, local newspapers and international media suggest that Uddin’s death is in response to his reporting on local drug operations. According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Uddin received several death threats from local drug dealers prior to the attack.

Speculations surrounding the central involvement of local drug rings in Uddin’s murder were raised when police found a bloodstained towel and machete in the home of local drug baron, Tota Miah. According to Bangladesh’s press freedom group Media Watch, authorities proceeded to arrest Miah’s wife, Lata Begum, while Miah managed to evade capture.

“Once again, IPI stresses the importance of bringing the perpetrators of attacks against journalists to justice,” IPI Deputy Director Anthony Mills said. “Unfortunately, successive governments in Bangladesh have failed to address the widespread climate of impunity in attacks against journalists. This has fuelled new episodes of violence and threatens Bangladeshi journalists’ ability to practise investigative journalism.”

According to IPI Board Member and Chairman of the IPI Bangladesh National Committee Bulbul Monjurul Ahsan, at least 24 journalists have been killed in Bangladesh since 1998, and not a single case has been closed, illustrating the rampant climate of impunity.

In particular, “no investigation has been conducted regarding the deaths of two television journalists, Sagar Sarwar and his wife Mehrun Runi, who were killed earlier this year,” Bulbul told IPI today.

An IPI mission travelled to Bangladesh in February of this year to discuss concerns relating to the state of press freedom. In particular, the mission delegates, including IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie, who travelled to the capital Dhaka from Feb. 25 to 29, 2012, urged authorities to address the growing level of impunity related to attacks on journalists that has been widespread over the past 15 years.