(CEHURDES/IFEX) – On 11 July 2002, police in the Indian capital of New Delhi took four Nepalese citizens into custody, including three journalists, on charges of assisting Maoist rebels. According to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report, those arrested include journalists working for “Nepali Awaj” (“Voice of the Nepalese”) newspaper, which is published in New Delhi. […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – On 11 July 2002, police in the Indian capital of New Delhi took four Nepalese citizens into custody, including three journalists, on charges of assisting Maoist rebels.
According to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report, those arrested include journalists working for “Nepali Awaj” (“Voice of the Nepalese”) newspaper, which is published in New Delhi. The arrested journalists are Parth Chhetri, Maheswor Dahal and Aditi. Dahal also worked for the pro-Maoist weekly “Janadesh” in Nepal before the imposition of a state of emergency in the country.
Meanwhile, on 10 July, the Nepalese authorities released “Janadesh” legal advisor Ram Nath Mainali on bail, after nearly four months of detention. Security personnel arrested Mainali at his Kathmandu residence on 14 March and took him into custody. “I have to report to the authorities once a week,” Mainali explained upon his release.
Background Information
Further to the imposition of a state of emergency in Nepal on 26 November 2001, more than 100 journalists have been arrested in different parts of the country. More than two dozen journalists remain in detention. Some journalists have reportedly been tortured, both physically and psychologically. Several detainees’ whereabouts remain unknown. There have been no reports of official charges filed against any of the arrested journalists.
