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Latest news | MP asks Government to condemn murder of LGBT magazine editor

Latest news

MP asks Government to condemn murder of LGBT magazine editor

Stewart McDonald MP asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he would publicly condemn the killing of Xulhaz Mamas, senior editor of Bangladesh's first LGBT magazine.

In response, Hugo Swire MP, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said:

"The British Government unequivocally condemns the murder of Xulhaz Mannan. On 25 April I expressed my deep sadness at the senseless murders of Mr Mannan, his friend Tanay Fahim and Professor Rezaul Karim and I called for the killers to be brought to justice. On 9 April, following the brutal murder of Nazimuddin Samad, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) called for the right to freedom of expression and open debate to be upheld in Bangladesh.

"Regrettably, the number of violent extremist attacks against minority communities has increased in Bangladesh; many have been claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Indian-Subcontinent and Daesh. Extremism flourishes where there is a culture of intolerance and impunity. I urge the Bangladesh government to do its utmost to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice and to ensure that the right to life, to justice and to free speech for all Bangladeshis is upheld."

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Tags: lgbt

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