Dhaka, May 15 -- The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has protested the arrests of journalists Farzana Rupa and Mozammel Babu in a crimes against humanity case over the crackdown on a Hifazat-e-Islam rally at Dhaka's Shapla Chattar in 2013.

The American non-profit focused on press freedom issued a statement on the arrests on Friday.

"Editorial decisions on covering a contested political incident are not crimes against humanity, and using an international criminal law framework to punish journalists circumvents the basic protections guaranteed to the press under Bangladesh's own constitution while also violating international human rights conventions," said CPJ Asia-Pacific Program Coordinator Kunāl Majumder.

"Bangladeshi aut...