(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, RSF protested the arrest of Anuradha Paudyal, a journalist with the Kathmandu-based “Space Time Daily”. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said, “Anuradha Paudyal was arrested in a manner unbecoming of a democracy. This confirms our fears of a new crackdown on press freedom by […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, RSF protested the arrest of Anuradha Paudyal, a journalist with the Kathmandu-based “Space Time Daily”. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said, “Anuradha Paudyal was arrested in a manner unbecoming of a democracy. This confirms our fears of a new crackdown on press freedom by security forces, who are exploiting the impunity afforded by the recently imposed state of emergency.” RSF called for the journalist’s immediate release.
Paudyal, a health and environment reporter with the independent “Space Time Daily”, was arrested at her home in Kathmandu on 19 January 2002, according to information obtained by RSF. A group of police and military officers searched her house for two hours without a warrant. They confiscated her books and two pairs of binoculars used by her husband for bird watching. Paudyal’s husband, who is himself a journalist, told RSF that his wife was blindfolded before being thrown into a police van. He added that their four-year-old son has had trouble sleeping since his mother’s arrest and has been asking for his mother. The authorities have given no information regarding her whereabouts, let alone the reasons for her arrest.
RSF has called on the prime minister to respond to Nepalese lawyers’ demand that twenty-four other journalists currently imprisoned be presented in the court, echoing a campaign for their release organised by their families. Without taking a stand on the ideas and the organisations supported by some detained journalists, the authorities’ rejection of these demands and their use of the anti-terrorism law against journalists loyal to the Maoist party is a matter of concern for RSF.
The organisation has obtained the following information about the twenty-four media professionals currently in jail:
– Govinda Acharya, Khil Bahadur Bhandari, Dipak Sapkota, Dipendra Rokaya and Rambhakta Maharjan, editor-in-chief, director, journalist, deputy editor and data entry clerk, respectively, from the weekly “Janadesh”, were all arrested on 26 November 2001;
– Ishwor Chandra Gyawali, Manarishi Dhital and Nim Bahadur Budhatoki, publication director, employee and data entry clerk, respectively, from “Disabodh” magazine, were arrested on 26 November;
– Om Sharma and Dipak Mainali, editor-in-chief and data entry clerk, respectively, from the daily “Janadisha”, were arrested on 26 November;
– Basant Pokhrel, journalist from the daily “Jana Sangharsha”, was arrested on 29 November in Butwal;
– Sitaram Shaha and Pawan Shreshta, journalists from the daily “Janakpur Awaj”, were arrested in Janakpour (central Nepal) on 29 November;
– Amar Budha of the weekly “Yojana” was arrested in April 1999. He is believed to be detained at Gaighat prison;
– Chandra Man Shrestha, publication director of the daily “Janadisha”, was apprehended on 26 December 2001, after being sought for weeks;
– Badri Prasad Sharma, editor of the weekly “Baglung” in Besishar (western Nepal), was arrested on 26 December;
– Bishnu Khanal and Liladhar Gautam, reporters from “Surkhet Post” newspaper in Surkhet (western Nepal), were arrested on 29 November;
– Gurudatta Gyawali, a journalist from “Lumbini Daily” in Rupendehi (western Nepal), was arrested on 29 November;
– Bijay Raj Acharya, a journalist from “Sirjanshil Prakashan”, was arrested on 9 January 2002;
– Prem Bahadur Diyali, a reporter from the “Blast Times” newspaper in Dharan (Sunrasi province, eastern Nepal), was arrested on 20 December;
– Baikuntha Dahal, a freelance journalist in Udaypur (western Nepal), was arrested on 29 November;
– Kamal Mishra, a freelance journalist in Jhapa (eastern Nepal), was arrested on 5 January 2002;
– Hari Baral, a journalist from the weekly “Bijayapur” in Dharan, was arrested on 3 January 2002.
Many journalists who are currently underground are still being sought by police:
– Bhabani Baral, a journalist with the weekly “Bijayapur in Dharan”;
– K. B. Mashal, a freelance journalist in Dang (western Nepal);
– Kishor Shrestha, editor-in-chief of the weekly “Jana Aastha” in Kathmandu;
– Prakash Adhikari, editor of the weekly “Deshantar” in Kathmandu.
The Federation of Nepalese Journalists has recently set up a committee to monitor press freedom violations and the arrests of media professionals by security forces.
Since the king of Nepal declared a state of emergency on 26 November, all fundamental rights, including freedom of opinion and expression and the right to information, have been suspended. By virtue of the dispositions that have been put in place, every person suspected of supporting Maoist rebels – even indirectly – will be charged. Moreover, any information for publication concerning the conflict with the Maoist guerilla movement has to be checked by the army.
