(FNJ/IFEX) – Deepak Adhikary, executive member of Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Makwanpur branch was arrested at his residence at Hetauda, district headquarters of Makwanpur on 13 April 2006 at 6:00 p.m. (local time). According to Girija Adhikary, Birgunj correspondent of “Prateek Daily”, he was brutally beaten during the arrest and is now severely injured. […]
(FNJ/IFEX) – Deepak Adhikary, executive member of Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Makwanpur branch was arrested at his residence at Hetauda, district headquarters of Makwanpur on 13 April 2006 at 6:00 p.m. (local time). According to Girija Adhikary, Birgunj correspondent of “Prateek Daily”, he was brutally beaten during the arrest and is now severely injured. His thumb has been broken and his back and knee have also been injured. At the time of arrest, he was wearing a jacket with a “Press” emblem. He has not been provided with necessary medication while in custody. He is being detained at the Hetauda district police office. Girija Adhikary was himself also mistreated by security personnel at 8:55 a.m. on 13 April. He was on his way home as the curfew was imposed from 9:00 a.m. Security personnel also beat him.
In a separate development on 13 April, in Kathmandu, State Minister for Information and Communications Shirish Shamsher Rana directed cable television operators to stop the telecasting of Kantipur Television (KTV). According to the news published in “Kantipur Daily” on 14 April, the minister called cable operators to the ministry and directed them to cease broadcasting KTV’s newscasts. Rana also said the government would arrange the necessary security for those operators who obeyed. Rana alleged that KTV has been broadcasting news fuelling the movement organised by the Seven Party Alliance.
In another separate incident, on 13 April Maoist rebels obstructed the distribution of the “Kantipur Daily” at Bagaha in Siraha, an eastern district of Nepal. Two Maoists holding pistols stopped the vehicle carrying newspapers destined for western districts in the region. The vehicle was freed only after an hour and a half, when local residents appealed to the rebels not to stop the media vehicle.
On 14 April, 13 journalists including Rajesh Chandra Raj Bhandari, president of FNJ’s Dhaulagiri chapter, were arrested in Baglung, headquarters of the Dhaulagiri zone. They were arrested at a peaceful rally organised by the FNJ Dhaulagiri chapter on the occasion of the Nepalese New Year’s Day 2063. Other arrested journalists were Ram Bahadur G.C., Himal Sharma, Rajan Thapa, Prakat Kumar Shishir, Durga Dutta Acharya, Babulal Shakya, Bishnu Sharma, Gyanendra Gautam, Yogendra Milan Santhal, Prakash Poudel, Purna B.K.and Mahesh Poudel.
The FNJ has condemned the above arrests as well as Rana’s attempted interference with Kantipur Television broadcasts and the obstruction of the distribution of “Kantipur Daily”.
Also on 14 April, an unidentified group threatened to kill Rajendra Vaidhya, chief editor of “Bimarsha Weekly”. He was threatened by telephone in the evening by someone who said, “The damage of your car is not enough and now we will attack you.” The caller disconnected the line before Vaidahya could react. According to Vaidhya, when the call came, he had just returned home after meeting detained journalists at Singha Durbar Ward Police Office.” His car was damaged two days prior to the threat.
On 15 April at 9:30 a.m. four journalists, including FNJ central committee member Surya Thapa, were arrested at Gausala, Kathmandu. They were arrested at a peaceful protest rally organised by the FNJ against the government attack on peaceful demonstrations. Other arrested journalists are Fanindra Dahal and Tika Ram Yatri. Police also brutally baton charged on participants in the rally and injured over a dozen journalists. The rally began from the FNJ office at Media Village; as they reached Gausala, the police brutally attacked them. Mahendra Bista, Secretary General, FNJ, Shailendra Basnet, Krishna Humagain and Man Bahadur Neupane all sustained severe head injuries, with Neupane’s requiring seven stitches. Former FNJ presidents Hari Har Birahi and Tara Nath Dahal, FNJ central committee member Binod Pahari, Press Union president Murari Sharma, South Asia Free Media Association-Nepal (SAFMA-Nepal) president Gopal Thapaliya, as well as Rajendra Aryal, Bharat Pokhrel, Chakra Karki, Purushottam Kattel Tej Prakash Pandit and Kishore Shrestha, were also injured.
The police team, including Superintendent of Police (SP) Shyam Bahadur Khadka, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sushil Bhandari, and Inspector Ramesh Basnet, indiscriminately charged at the journalists, clubbed them deliberately on their heads, and continued beating them even after they had been subdued. Yubraj Sharma, former president of the Nepal Engineers’ Association (NEC) and advocate Upendra Keshari Neupane, who were expressing their solidarity with the journalists’ protest, were also injured in the incident. All injured journalists returned home after being treated at Kathmandu Model Hospital and other health centres in Kathmandu. All four journalists arrested were freed on 15 April, after four hours in detention.
Also on 15 April, police took into custody 11 journalists taking part in the “Face to Face” programme on the street, organized by the Reporters’ Club of Nepal, in the morning at Putalisadak. The arrested journalists are Club chairman Rishi Dhamala, and Purushottam Dhakal, Suman Malla, Navaraj Chalise, Manoj Gajurel, Bimal Ghimire, Nirmal Neupane, Bhav Nath Ghimire, Sachittanad Sapkota, Lila Prasad Pathak and Shankar Layal Malla. Police also arrested seven artists and professionals from the programme. All arrested journalists, artists and other professionals are detained at Singdurbar Ward Police Office, Kathmandu.
In another 15 April incident, “Budhawar Weekly” correspondent Dirgha Raj Thapa was severely beaten by security personnel in Dailekh, a midwestern region. According to Dailekh-based journalist Hari Har Singh Rathore, the incident took place when Thapa was reporting news on a peaceful demonstration organised by local women. Thapa’s left leg was broken.
Then, on 16 April, at around 1:00 p.m., 20 journalists, including Bal Krishna Chapagain, the president of Press Chautari Nepal, were arrested at Bhotahiti, Kathmandu. They were arrested at a protest rally organized by Press Chautari Nepal against the 14 April brutal attack and arrests of journalists. Other arrested journalists include Bharat Raj Pokhrel, Shambhu Shrestha, Ganesh Basnet, Gagan Bista, Rajendra Fuyal, Bhimsen Raj Bahak, Dev Raj Rimal, Bal Kumar Rimal, Rohit Dahal, Dev Raj Aryal, Prakash Silwal, Govinda Chaulagain and Indra Baniya. Punya Bhandari, Shushil Aryal, Kiran Pokhrel, Suro Jung Pandey, Om Prakash Acharya and Dipak Oli were also among the arrested. All the arrested journalists are detained at Dasarath Stadium, Kathmandu. The journalists were ordered detained for 90 days under the Public Security Act 1990.
Ramesh Kumar Silwal, chief editor of the monthly magazine “Science and Future” was arrested on 5 April at his residence at Sanepa, Lalitpur. According to information given by journalist Ram Chandra Bhatta on 17 April, three security personnel in plain clothes entered Silwal’s house at 5 a.m. They had entered the grounds of his home by jumping over the surrounding wall, then rang the doorbell. When his niece opened the door, they said they had come to take Silwal away. The security personnel took Silwal to Duwakot in a taxi. He has been ordered detained for 90 days under the Public Security Act (PSA), on accusations of endangering public order. He has been detained at Armed Police Force station in Duwakot.
The government has renewed the controversial Media Ordinance that was promulgated six months ago. The government published the Ordinance in the Nepal Gazette after the King put the royal seal on it on April 3. The ordinance was made public on 16 April. The renewed ordinance’s provisions regarding control of press and prohibiting FM stations from airing news remain unchanged. “This move shows complete neglect of the voices coming from national and international circles regarding the protection of a free press and freedom of speech and expression,” FNJ President Bishnu Nisthuri said, adding, “we will not accept the ordinance.”
Elsewhere, in another separate development, the Dang District Administration Office forced local radio station Swargadwari FM to stop the relay transmission of the program “Akhbar” through Sagarmatha FM on 16 April. The district administrator gave the order by telephone. Since the order, the FM has stopped the relay transmission. Four days prior to this, the telecommunications company had disconnected the radio station’s telephone service without advising it beforehand, in order to disrupt the relay transmission. However the FM had transmitted its relay service through an alternative route.
Meanwhile, according to news published by “The Kathmandu Post”, the government has started to issue direct and indirect threats to independent radio stations in a bid to suppress the nationwide pro-democracy movement, said the Save Independent Radio Movement (SIRM) in a statement on 16 April. Hem Bahadur Bista of SIRM told “The Kathmandu Post”, “We have received information that security agencies have concluded that they cannot suppress the ongoing movement for democracy until media is controlled.”
In a separate 16 April incident, police vandalized the motorcycle owned by the “Ankush Daily”, published in Birgunj, a central district of Nepal. The motorcycle was parked outside the newspaper’s office and police personnel damaged it although the “Press” emblem was printed on it.
The FNJ has strongly condemned the arrests and violent attacks on the journalists and demanded the immediate release of all those detained. It has also demanded immediate action against the police involved in the arrests and the attacks. The FNJ calls upon the government to stop using the Public Security Act and other anti-terrorist legislation to incarcerate and prevent journalists from carrying out their professional duties. It has also urged the government to respect people’s constitutionally guaranteed rights of freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. The FNJ has also severely condemned the government’s renewal of the Media Ordinance, its order halting radio transmissions and its attempt to target FM radio stations. The FNJ has also condemned the Maoist rebel’s interference with the distribution of “Kantipur Daily” newspaper.
