A Constituent Assembly member threatened journalist Mohan Kaji Neupane, accusing him of writing news against her and the UCPN-Maoist party.
(Freedom Forum/IFEX) – Freedom Forum is seriously concerned about the recurring violations of press freedom in Nepal as two separate incidents took place on 3 February 2011.
Dharmasheela Chapagain, a Constituent Assembly (CA) member representing the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist), verbally attacked Mohan Kaji Neupane, the editor of the daily “Janasambad”. Neupane is also the chairperson of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Jhapa Chapter. Using offensive language, Chapagain threatened to assault the journalist, accusing him of writing news against her and the UCPN-Maoist.
In another incident, four or five unidentified individuals attacked Radio Buddha Awas journalist Baburam Rayamajhi as he was returning home from the station. Rayamajhi was chased and assaulted. He sustained injuries as a result of the assault.
“They beat me mercilessly and threatened to kill me,” the journalist said. He added that it is unclear why he was targeted.
Freedom Forum condemns these deliberate press freedom violations and calls on the government and local administrators to bring the guilty parties to justice and end the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of these types of cases.
