(CEHURDES/IFEX) – The government and Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) held talks on 22 August 2002 regarding the demands put forward by the FNJ. During the meeting, Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka assured the FNJ that the government planned to make public details of the situation of 22 journalists who are presently behind bars, in […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – The government and Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) held talks on 22 August 2002 regarding the demands put forward by the FNJ. During the meeting, Home Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka assured the FNJ that the government planned to make public details of the situation of 22 journalists who are presently behind bars, in preventive detention. Meanwhile, the same day, the government also made public the report submitted by a three-member probe committee regarding the whereabouts of pro-Maoist editor Krishna Sen.
According to the daily “Kantipur”, the committee, led by Home Ministry Joint Secretary Sushil Shumsher JB Rana, concluded that there were no records of Sen having been taken into custody by any of the security agencies. Media reports have claimed that Sen was allegedly tortured to death in early June while in police custody.
The FNJ has been leading a protest programme demanding the constitution of a judicial commission to probe into reports of atrocities committed by security forces against media personnel since the imposition of a state of emergency in November 2001.
