(CEHURDES/IFEX) – On 11 July 2004, Nepal Police officers arrested four journalists at Chhekan Shah’s office. The journalists were arrested for having published news about Shah’s alleged involvement in financial irregularities in Rukum district, western Nepal. Shah is the head of the District Animal Care Office. The journalists arrested are district reporters Dil Bahadur Shahi, […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – On 11 July 2004, Nepal Police officers arrested four journalists at Chhekan Shah’s office. The journalists were arrested for having published news about Shah’s alleged involvement in financial irregularities in Rukum district, western Nepal. Shah is the head of the District Animal Care Office.
The journalists arrested are district reporters Dil Bahadur Shahi, of the state-controlled national news agency Rastriya Samachar Samiti, Hari Bishnu Oli, of Kantipur Publications, Narayan Shah, of the weekly “Dristi”, and Kamal Thapa, of the weekly “Chhalphal”.
Before the arrest of the four journalists, Shah verbally abused them at his office. They had gone there to obtain more information about the allegations against Shah. The District Animal Care Office head also filed a complaint against the four at the District Police Office, under the Public Security Law. In the 15 July edition of the daily “Rajdhani”, Rapti Zone’s senior police officer said legal action would be initiated against the journalists.
In a separate development, on 12 July, the authorities released journalist Dhani Ram Tharu from the Nepalgunj detention centre, in western Nepal. Tharu works for the ethnic Tharu-language radio programme “Hamar Saujan”. He is also secretary of Backward Society Education, a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Bardiya district. The NGO works for the welfare of the ethnic Tharu community in western Nepal. On 13 March, Tharu and six of his colleagues were arrested on a charge of assisting Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoist) rebels via Tharu cultural programmes. Tharu’s colleagues were released on 14 March.
On 14 July, the authorities also released journalist K. B. Jumli from Nepalgunj. Jumli is the Jumla district reporter for “Nepal Samacharpatra”. The Nepal Police detained Jumli for three and a half months for his alleged involvement with the CPN-Maoist movement.
CEHURDES condemns the arrest of the journalists and urges the Nepal Police chief to handle this case in an impartial manner. The organisation also welcomes the release of Tharu and Jumli and calls on the authorities to respect press freedom and freedom of expression.
