(FNJ/IFEX) – On 12 April 2006 at 10:45 a.m. (local time), more then two dozen journalists were arrested, with undue force, from Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, while participating in a peaceful rally organized by the FNJ’s Kathmandu Chapter to protest recent government attacks on media and freedom of expression. Those arrested included: FNJ Secretary General Mahendra Bista, […]
(FNJ/IFEX) – On 12 April 2006 at 10:45 a.m. (local time), more then two dozen journalists were arrested, with undue force, from Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, while participating in a peaceful rally organized by the FNJ’s Kathmandu Chapter to protest recent government attacks on media and freedom of expression.
Those arrested included: FNJ Secretary General Mahendra Bista, FNJ central committee members Ramji Dahal and Binod Pahadi, and journalists Nirmala Sharma, Kishore Shrestha, Damodar Dawadi, Bharat Raj Pokhreal, Rajendra Aryal, Punya Bhandari, Ishwori Neupane, Ishwori Wagle, Damber Giri, Dipak Acharya, Chet Nath Dhamla, Amar Nath Dhakal, Shree Babu Karki, Nav Raj Sharma, Sanat Acharya, Sita Ram Baral, Rohit Dahal, Surya Neupane, Santhosh Kanel, Bharat Khadka, Dev Raj Rimal, Nanda Rishi Neupane, Krishna Humagain, Shiva Devkota, Kapil Kafle and Shyam Bashnet.
All have been detained at Singhadurbar Ward Police office, Kathmandu.
In another incident in Udayapur, in the eastern district of Nepal, security personnel used sharp objects to beat journalists Rabindra Kumar Chaudhary, Kushal Babu Basnet, Shanta Rai and Mohan Gole, who were reporting on a peaceful rally organized by the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) to protest the country’s current autocratic regime.
In still another incident, the journalists Yagya Raj Thapa, Pushkar Thapa and Umesh KC. Narayan were arrested in Dailekh, in Nepal’s midwestern district, on 11 April at around 12:00 noon. They were arrested while reporting on an SPA rally. Police mistreated them before arresting them, threatening them with further action and warning them not to report on the activities organized by the SPA. The journalists were released after six hours of detention.
Journalists arrested in Chitwan on 11 April were also released, at 6:00 p.m. in the evening on the same day.
In a press release, the FNJ strongly condemned the arrest and mistreatment of journalists and asked for the immediate release of all those still in unjustified detention.