Dhaka: The European Union (EU) on Tuesday expressed concern over violent scenes in the city in recent days and sought investigation into the actions against protesters and journalists to hold perpetrators accountable. 

‘Incidents of unlawful or disproportionate violence or action against protestors, journalists or others need to stop; those that happened must be investigated and perpetrators be held accountable,’ they said.

The EU envoys in Dhaka in a joint statement said, ‘The government's recognition of the need for action is a welcome step and we, therefore, expect further government action to address this without delay.’

They said the school-children's protests highlighted fears over road safety and the enforcement of laws and regulations on the roads in Bangladesh.

The EU Heads of Mission stressed that the violent scenes in Dhaka in recent days, particularly where school children and young people have been caught in protests or violent clashes with other groups, are a source of real concern.

‘We expect all sides to remain calm and to respect the right to peaceful protest,’ they said.

The signatories to the statement are Alison Blake, High Commissioner, British High Commission, Mikael Hemniti Winther, Ambassador, Royal Danish Embassy, D Alvaro de Salas Gimenez de Azcarate, Ambassador, Embassy of Spain, Jean-Pierre Poncet, Chargé d' Affaires a.i., Embassy of France. Giuseppe Semenza, Chargé d' Affaires a.i., Embassy of Italy, Michael Schultheiss, Chargé d' Affaires a.i., Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Anders Ohrström, Chargé d' Affaires a.i., Embassy of Sweden, Jeroen Steeghs, Chargé d' Affaires a.i., Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Konstantinos Vardakis, Chargé d' Affaires a.i., Delegation of the European Union.