Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the ruling Awami League party returned to power for her fifth term amid an opposition boycott and low voter turnout. The U.S. State Department said the elections were “not free or fair.”

Mujib Mashal, South Asia bureau chief for The New York Times, told CPJ that the newspaper was denied prior approval by the Bangladesh government to report on the polls.

Separately, on Saturday, January 6, the day before the election, the Daily Manab Zamin newspaper’s website was blocked in Bangladesh following its critical reporting on the government, according to Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, the outlet’s editor-in-chief.

Chowdhury said the outlet did not receive a government notice detailing why the website was blocked, and access was restored on Monday, January 8.

At around 1 p.m. on election day, around 15 to 20 men wearing Awami League badges attacked seven journalists– MA Rahim, a correspondent for the broadcaster Ananda TV, Rimon Hossain, a camera operator with Ananda TV; Masud Rana, a correspondent with the online news portal enews71; Sumon Khan, a correspondent with the broadcaster Mohona TV; Elias Bosunia, a correspondent with the broadcaster Bangla TV; Minaj Islam, a correspondent with the newspaper Daily Vorer Chetona; and Hazrat Ali, a correspondent with the newspaper Dainik Dabanol, during their coverage of an assault on independent candidate Ataur Rahman outside a polling station in northern Lalmonirhat district, according to Rahim and Rana.

The men beat several of the journalists with iron rods and bamboo sticks, beat and pushed others, and broke and confiscated multiple pieces of equipment including cameras and microphones—according to those sources and a complaint filed at the Hatibandha Police Station by Rana, which alleged the perpetrators were led by brothers Md. Zahidul Islam and Md. Mostafa, nephews of the incumbent parliamentarian contested by Rahman.

Md. Zahidul Islam told CPJ that he denied involvement in the attack. Islam did not respond to CPJ’s follow-up question about Mostafa’s alleged involvement in the attack.

Saiful Islam, officer-in-charge of the Hatibandha Police Station, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment.

Separately, at around 2:40 p.m., around 25 men surrounded Sirajul Islam Rubel, a correspondent for The Daily Star newspaper, and Arafat Rahaman, a reporter for The Daily Star, as they tried to leave a polling station in the capital Dhaka after covering an alleged ballot stuffing attempt by Awami League supporters, Rubel told CPJ.

The men grabbed the journalists’ phones, deleted their video footage and photos of the incident, and blocked their exit from the center along with Daily Star reporter Dipan Nandy, who subsequently joined Rubel and Rahaman to report from the station. The trio managed to leave with the assistance of police at around 3:05 p.m., Rubel said.

Separately, at around 2:45 p.m., around 20 to 25 men beat Mosharrof Shah, a correspondent for the daily newspaper Prothom Alo, after he photographed and filmed alleged ballot stuffing by Awami League supporters at a polling station in southeast Chittagong city, the journalist told CPJ.

Shah said that while speaking to an electoral officer about the incident, the men approached the journalist, took his notebook where he wrote what he observed, and deleted footage from his mobile phone in the presence of police. The men repeatedly slapped and punched Shah before he managed to flee the scene after around 30 minutes, the journalist told CPJ, adding that he received his phone back around one hour later with the assistance of his journalist colleagues.

Shah identified one of the perpetrators as Nurul Absar, general secretary of a local unit of the Chhatra League, the student wing of the Awami League. Absar did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment.

Previously, on September 24, alleged members of the Chhatra League attacked Shah on the University of Chittagong campus.

Separately, at around 4 p.m., a group of 20 to 30 men surrounded and assaulted Saif Bin Ayub, a sub-editor for the Daily Kalbela newspaper, and took his laptop, phone, other personal items while he was photographing alleged ballot stuffing by Awami League supporters inside a polling center in Dhaka, the journalist told CPJ.

The men pushed Bin Ayub against a wall and punched him, kicked him in the abdomen, and scratched him while forcibly removing his press identification card from around his neck. The perpetrators then dragged him out of the building as he requested help from police present at the scene, the journalist said. 

Officers did not intervene and the beating continued outside for around 15 minutes, the journalist said, adding that he received his phone and broken laptop back later that day but not his wallet, wristwatch and other items.

Separately, at around 4:30 p.m., around eight to 10 men—including electoral officials and teenagers wearing Awami League badges—pushed Sam Jahan, a Reuters video journalist, out of a vote counting room in a polling station in Dhaka. Two of the teenagers then chased Jahan out of the station, he told CPJ.

Separately, Awami League supporters surrounded and obstructed the work of four journalists with the New Age newspaper—correspondent Muktadir Rashid, photojournalist Sourav Laskar, and reporters Nasir Uz Zaman and Tanzil Rahaman—during their coverage of polling stations in Dhaka, Rashid told CPJ.

Separately, unidentified perpetrators threw bricks from behind at Mohiuddin Modhu, a news presenter and correspondent for the broadcaster Jamuna Television, after the journalist tried to speak to a young teenager who attempted to cast a ballot in the Nawabganj sub-district of Dhaka district.

Biplab Barua, Awami League office secretary and special aide to Prime Minister Hasina, told CPJ that law enforcement took swift action regarding all attacks on journalists on election day. Barua added that the government is committed to launching investigations into all such incidents and bringing the perpetrators to justice.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director.

Around 6 a.m. on Sunday, July 23, about 50 heavily armed men with assault-style rifles attacked the town of Liancourt in Haiti’s Artibonite region, burning down dozens of houses and the Radio Antarctique studio, according to videos reviewed by CPJ and the station’s director and founder Roderson Elias, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview.

During the three-hour attack on the town, at least four residents were killed, at least 10 were injured, and at least 10 abducted, according to a July 26 post on Elias’ Facebook page. It was one of the largest assaults by gang members amid the political chaos and spiraling violence against civilians since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021.

According to news reports, the attack is believed to have been retaliation for a civilian killing a member of the Baz Gran Grif gang. Following the attack, the head of the Baz Gran Grif gang, Élan Luckson, said that Elias himself was “responsible,” in a voice message distributed by his followers, which CPJ reviewed. The gang leader accused Elias of turning local residents against the gang and giving away the group’s location.

“The apparently targeted attack on Haitian broadcaster Radio Antarctique is deeply troubling, and those responsible must be held accountable. Journalists should not face violent retaliation simply for doing their jobs,” said Cristina Zahar, CPJ’s Latin America and the Caribbean program coordinator, in São Paulo. “The situation in Haiti remains untenable. Local authorities must restore order so that all citizens, including journalists, can live without fear from armed gangs.”

Elias, who wrote about the attack on social media while it was ongoing, told CPJ that gang members deliberately targeted Radio Antarctique, destroying its studio, broadcast equipment, and antenna.  

“They smashed everything and then set fire to it. It was reduced to ashes,” said Elias, who founded Radio Antarctique a year ago and broadcasts a mix of sports, music, and local news, including on gang activity in the area.

“We just had our first anniversary. Now the whole investment is gone,” he added, calculating the losses at $20,000.

The station’s 15-person staff was unharmed in the attack. Elias’ home, located next to the station, was also burned and his car badly damaged, he said. Elias told CPJ that he had been threatened by Baz Gran Grif members in February and forced to leave town before returning when he felt it was safe again.

“The toll of atrocities by Élan Luckson’s men is truly sad. The main private businesses have been completely looted. The premises of the Liancourt sub-commissariat and those of Radio Antarctique are completely burnt down, as well as several family homes,” the deputy head of the Saint-Marc district, Walter Montas, told Le Nouvelliste, Haiti’s largest newspaper.

“The police were nowhere to be seen. They never responded. We are on our own, helpless against the gangs,” Elias told CPJ from an undisclosed location, after fleeing the town during the attack.

He said he would like to leave the country for a while, but said getting a visa was difficult for Haitians, adding, “one day I would like to return, but right now we can’t count on our local authorities to protect us.”

A regional government representative, Venson François, confirmed the attack to Le Nouvelliste and lamented “the complexity of the law enforcement response to such repeated tragedies.”

The absence of Haitian law enforcement has become typical of the country’s state of insecurity over the last two years, according to news reports, prompting the United Nations and human rights groups to call for foreign intervention to protect civilians caught up in the violence.

In a report, the National Human Rights Defense Network nongovernmental organization expressed concern over the inaction of state authorities, citing an upsurge in acts of violence, with at least 75 people killed and 40 kidnapped between May 1 and July 12.

When asked if he was aware of the alleged police absence in Liancourt, national police spokesperson Gary Desrosiers told CPJ via messaging app that he was “aware of the situation” but did not elaborate further.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Erik Crouch.