(CEHURDES/IFEX) – CEHURDES, a Kathmandu-based press freedom monitoring group, has condemned the attack on journalist Laxmi Mishra and the manhandling of journalist Yem Birahi by security personnel in separate incidents. Mishra, a reporter with Dharan-based “Blast Times” daily, was injured on 21 December 2005 when he was covering a protest by students in the eastern […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – CEHURDES, a Kathmandu-based press freedom monitoring group, has condemned the attack on journalist Laxmi Mishra and the manhandling of journalist Yem Birahi by security personnel in separate incidents.
Mishra, a reporter with Dharan-based “Blast Times” daily, was injured on 21 December 2005 when he was covering a protest by students in the eastern district of Ilam. The students were protesting against the killing of one dozen civilians by a soldier at Nagarkot, in Bhaktapur district, last week.
Nearly a dozen other student activists were also injured when police resorted to baton-charging against demonstrators.
In a separate incident, police manhandled Yem Birahi, a reporter with “Rajdhani” daily, in Kathmandu as he was returning home from the office. Police briefly detained him and released him later. No reason for the detention was given.
CEHURDES condemns these police actions against journalists Mishra and Birahi. We demand that the government take action against the security personnel concerned and make adequate arrangement for treatment of journalist Mishra.
There have been incidents of police targeting reporters and photojournalists who were covering anti-king demonstrations recently. On 19 December, a reporter with the state-run “Gorkhapatra” daily, Prakash Acharya, was injured badly in a police action in Kathmandu.
CEHURDES urges top police officials to instruct policemen strictly to not target media personnel under any pretext and ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future.
CEHURDES also calls upon the authorities to not harass journalists and to create an environment where they can work without fear or intimidation.
