Freedom Forum

Comedian Pranesh Gautam was charged in 2019 and detained for eight days over a film review which allegedly insulted filmmakers and artists.

Two editors were summoned and questioned by the Supreme Court over a ‘baseless’ news report. Freedom Forum said this is a form of harassment that undermines the work of independent media.

The home and office of journalist Babin Sharma were raided by security forces over a news report alleging a secret agreement involving Nepal’s prime minister and a foreign official. Several journalists were also harassed.

Ram Kumari Jhankri, a leader of the Nepal Communist Party, was detained for several hours on charges of committing a ‘crime against [the] state.’ The prominent leader has been a vocal critic of the decision to dissolve the House of Representatives in December.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report on freedom of expression and civic space was submitted by Freedom Forum and Free Press Unlimited in the thirty-seventh Session of the Working Group on the UPR.

Freedom Forum has released its 2020 report on the state of press freedom in Nepal. The organisation recorded 96 press freedom violations in 2020.

Freedom Forum welcomed the arrest of Hari Lal Pun, one of the individuals convicted for the killing of journalist Thapa. It acknowledged that the arrest is important in addressing the impunity for crimes against journalists in Nepal.

A citizen was attacked for requesting information about the progress of a road constructed at Subarna rural municipality in Nepal.