(CEHURDES/IFEX) – Maheshwor Pahari, a journalist with the Pokhara-based weekly “Rastriya Swabhiman”, was illegally arrested by security forces for the fourth time this week. Pahari was first arrested by army officers on 4 January 2004. His whereabouts were only revealed six months later. He was given a three-month detention letter by the District Administration Office […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – Maheshwor Pahari, a journalist with the Pokhara-based weekly “Rastriya Swabhiman”, was illegally arrested by security forces for the fourth time this week.
Pahari was first arrested by army officers on 4 January 2004. His whereabouts were only revealed six months later. He was given a three-month detention letter by the District Administration Office (DAO) in Kaski and later released, only to be arrested two more times by security forces.
On 14 May 2005, Pahari was released after being held for six months at the Kaski DAO. He was later rearrested from within the jail compound. He is reportedly being detained at the Ward Police Station in Bagar, Pokhara.
On 15 May, former Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) president Taranath Dahal met with Pahari in police custody to access his situation. Dahal appealed to the local administration to release Pahari unconditionally and as soon as possible.
In a separate case, Bhaikaji Ghimire, managing director of the “Samadristi” monthly, has been imprisoned in Nakhu jail since April 2005, under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Control and Punishment) Ordinance (TADO). Ghimire was arrested by plainclothes security forces officers on 3 December 2003, in Chhetrapati, Kathmandu. He was held at an undisclosed prison for 16 months (see IFEX alerts of 24 and 10 December 2003).
In another case, Chandra Giri, the Kathmandu correspondent for the Malaysian weekly “Shram”, was arrested in early 2005 at a ticket counter of the Sajha bus station in Pulchowk, Lalitpur. He was tortured while in the custody of the Shree Jang Battalion of the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA), at Singha Darbar. On 23 January, on the orders of Kathmandu Chief District Officer (CDO) Baman Prasad Neupane, he was sent to central jail (see alerts of 27 and 17 January 2005).
Giri remains in custody under Article 9 of the TADO, [which allows the government to hold persons without trial for up to one year].
CEHURDES condemns the detention of these journalists and calls upon the government to release them unconditionally and as soon as possible. The organisation also appeals to the government to respect the rights of media workers and to allow them to work in free and a fair environment.
