(CEHURDES/IFEX) – On 29 August 2003, the security forces arrested popular poet Balram Sharma, also known as Poorna Biram, at his residence in Shiphal, Kathmandu. According to Balram Sharma’s family, two plainclothes policemen who claimed to be from Singha Darbar Ward Police Station took him in for questioning. His whereabouts remain unknown. On 16 September, […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – On 29 August 2003, the security forces arrested popular poet Balram Sharma, also known as Poorna Biram, at his residence in Shiphal, Kathmandu. According to Balram Sharma’s family, two plainclothes policemen who claimed to be from Singha Darbar Ward Police Station took him in for questioning. His whereabouts remain unknown.
On 16 September, Balram Sharma’s wife, Sabitri Sharma, filed a petition with the Supreme Court, under the habeas corpus provision of the constitution, against the Home Ministry, Defence Ministry, Royal Nepal Army, Nepal Police and District Administration Office, Kathmandu, demanding the disclosure of her husband’s whereabouts. The court has ordered the defendants to show just cause with respect to Balram Sharma’s detention.
In a separate incident, on 11 September, the security forces arrested Pushkal Dhakal, a member of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), at his home. He was released on 13 September. Dhakal had been working as a newspaper distributor. According to Dhakal, he was blindfolded and taken to the Chhauni Army Barrack on an allegation that he provided shelter to two Maoist cadres whom the security forces suspected of blowing up a road.
CEHURDES is outraged at the ongoing actions of the security forces against journalists and free expression activists. The organisation has called for disclosure of the whereabouts and the immediate release of arrested journalists and urged the security forces to respect universal norms of human rights, freedom of expression and press freedom.
