(CEHURDES/IFEX) – On 31 October 2004, security forces confiscated the communications equipment of journalists Hari Har Singh Rathor and Amar Sunar, in Dailekh district, western Nepal. The confiscated equipment included a cellphone and fax machine. The seizure was reportedly aimed at controlling the circulation of information about security issues in the district. Rathor and Sunar […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – On 31 October 2004, security forces confiscated the communications equipment of journalists Hari Har Singh Rathor and Amar Sunar, in Dailekh district, western Nepal. The confiscated equipment included a cellphone and fax machine. The seizure was reportedly aimed at controlling the circulation of information about security issues in the district. Rathor and Sunar work for the daily “Kantipur” and the privately-owned television station Channel Nepal, respectively.
In a separate incident on 1 November, officials from the Pakistani Embassy refused to allow photojournalist Dwarika Ranjit to enter the Soaltee Hotel Crown Plaza in Kathmandu. Ranjit had gone to the hotel to participate in a conference organised by the Nepal Council of World Affairs and the Pakistani Embassy. The event was scheduled to coincide with Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s visit to Nepal, in conjunction with the upcoming South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit. Ranjit works for the Kathmandu-based dailies “The Himalayan Times” and “Annapurna Post”.
In another unrelated incident, the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoists) confiscated the land of journalist Narayan Shah in Rukum, a western district. The land is valued at Rs. 500,000 (approx. US$6,900). Shah works for the Kathmandu-based weekly “Dristi” and is also president of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists’ (FNJ) Rukum section.
CEHURDES condemns all attacks on journalists and urges all concerned parties to repect press freedom and freedom of expression, including the free flow of information.
