The Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) has welcomed the government's decision to amend the code of criminal procedure to do away with the provision of issuance of warrants against journalists, editors, publishers, poets and writers for libellous or defamatory writings and replace it with the issuance of summons, according to press release.

NOAB has described the decision to amend sections 500, 501 and 502 of the CrPC as a step in the right direction, which will contribute to strengthening democracy and promoting freedom of expression and freedom of the press. NOAB has thanked the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her cabinet colleagues for meeting its long-standing demand to drop the harmful provisions of the CrPC which were often used as tools to punish newspapers for publishing stories and comments that they perceived to be against the interests of certain vested quarters.

-The Independent