(CEHURDES/IFEX) – CEHURDES condemns the 13 February 2006 attack by security personnel on two journalists in western Nepal. According to information compiled by CEHURDES, Royal Nepalese Army personnel interrogated journalists Kali Bahadur Malla and Rabindra Shahi as they were returning to their residence after dining at a local hotel in Manma, the capital of the […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – CEHURDES condemns the 13 February 2006 attack by security personnel on two journalists in western Nepal.
According to information compiled by CEHURDES, Royal Nepalese Army personnel interrogated journalists Kali Bahadur Malla and Rabindra Shahi as they were returning to their residence after dining at a local hotel in Manma, the capital of the remote northern district of Kalikot. According to the journalists, the soldiers first inquired about their identity and then, when they said that they were journalists, beat them with their rifle butts.
Malla is the district correspondent of the daily “Nepal Samacharpatra”, while Shahi is the district correspondent of the weekly “Dristi”. Both newspapers are published in Kathmandu.
CEHURDES condemns this brutal attack, which it considers a reflection of the soldiers’ hostility towards media personnel. CEHURDES demands that the authorities investigate the incident, punish the guilty, and provide free treatment to the injured journalists. CEHURDES also demands that the government take measures to ensure that such incidences do not recur.
Meanwhile, CEHURDES welcomes the release of journalists Dhiren Chemjong and Dharma Gautam, who were arrested by police on 8 February in the eastern district of Ilam, as well as the release of Dwarika Upreti, publisher of the Kathmandu-based weekly “Roadmap”, who was detained by police in January.
Finally, CEHURDES demands that the government release all journalists currently under detention for the practise of their profession, including Kamal Raj Regmi of the radio station Bheri FM in the mid-western district of Surkhet. Regmi was arrested by police on 1 February and remains in custody.
