(CEHURDES/IFEX) – CEHURDES condemns the ongoing harassment of journalists. Furthermore, CEHURDES continues to urge the authorities to respect the universal mandates of press freedom and freedom of expression and ensure an impartial news reporting environment. On 29 April 2002, the police raided the offices of Shrinkhala Offset Press in New Baneswore, Kathmandu, without a warrant. […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – CEHURDES condemns the ongoing harassment of journalists. Furthermore, CEHURDES continues to urge the authorities to respect the universal mandates of press freedom and freedom of expression and ensure an impartial news reporting environment.
On 29 April 2002, the police raided the offices of Shrinkhala Offset Press in New Baneswore, Kathmandu, without a warrant. They briefly detained two journalists, Kedar Bhattarai and Prakash Thapa of “Abhilasi”, which is affiliated with the weeklies “Nava Yugvani” and “Nepali Awaj”. The security personnel also detained six more staff members at the printing press. According to the daily “Kantipur”, they were released after a three-hour interrogation at the Ward Police Office in Tinkune, Kathmandu.
In a separate incident, on the weekend of 27 and 28 April, the local administration in the eastern district of Sunsari released P. B. Diyali on bail. The journalist is assistant editor of the daily “Blast Times”, published in Itahari. Diyali was held under preventive detention at the local police office for 140 days under suspicion of being a pro-Maoist journalist. He remained behind bars even after issuing a statement that he was not involved in any Maoist activities.
Following the declaration of a “state of emergency” in Nepal on 26 November 2001, more than 100 journalists have been arrested in different parts of the country. Nearly two dozen journalists remain in detention. There have been no reports of official charges or cases filed against the journalists.
