Arjun Shrestha said two Sitaram Milk employees arrived at his home in Koteshwor, Kathmandu and said, "We will finish you off because your news about Sitaram Milk will ruin our business."
(Freedom Forum/IFEX) – Freedom Forum’s attention has been drawn to a press freedom violation which occurred in the capital on October 18, 2011.
Two people associated with the Sitaram Milk company threatened to kill reporter Arjun Shrestha, from ABC Television, because of the reporting he had done on the milk company, which they said could reflect negatively on their company and ruin their business.
Talking to the Media Monitoring Desk of Freedom Forum, Shrestha said the Sitaram employees, marketing manager N B Jha and marketing officer Milan Bista, arrived at the journalist’s home in Koteshwor, Kathmandu and said, “We will finish you off because your news about Sitaram Milk will ruin our business.”
Shrestha added that they also manhandled him when he warned them that he would call the police.
Shrestha said his reporting was about how the company had not maintained certain standards in their milk. There were no batch numbers or production dates on the milk packaging, he added.
Freedom Forum urges the authorities to respect journalists’ right to write about malpractices in businesses which are detrimental to the public’s health. Similarly, the administration needs to provide security to Shrestha in order to avoid future dangers to his safety.
