(FNJ/IFEX) – At least 18 journalists were arrested, with an excessive use of force, at around 1:00 p.m. (local time) on 9 April 2006. Those arrested included Dipak Gyawali, secretary for the FNJ in Rupendehi; as well as the journalists Kamala Kunwar, Dinesh Pande, Sher Bahadur K.C., Dipendra Baduwal, Dipendra Kunwar, Top Raj Sharma, Amrit […]
(FNJ/IFEX) – At least 18 journalists were arrested, with an excessive use of force, at around 1:00 p.m. (local time) on 9 April 2006. Those arrested included Dipak Gyawali, secretary for the FNJ in Rupendehi; as well as the journalists Kamala Kunwar, Dinesh Pande, Sher Bahadur K.C., Dipendra Baduwal, Dipendra Kunwar, Top Raj Sharma, Amrit Giri, Yub Raj Pande, Hari Sundar Washi, Shyam Lal Pokhrel, Siddhi Charan Bhattrai, Laxman Paudel, Manoranjan Sharma, Arjun Shrestha, Ramesh Pokhrel, Pradip Acharya and Krishna Pokhrel.
Three civil society members who were expressing their solidarity with the journalists – Shyam Bahadur Pathak, Kishore Gyawali and Prakaash Shrestha – were also arrested.
The arrests took place at a peaceful rally protesting the earlier arrest of another group of journalists, including D.R. Ghimire, president for the FNJ’s Rupendehi Chapter, and Karna Bhadur Karki, a former FNJ vice-president. Ghimire and Karki were arrested on the morning of 9 April while reporting on the protests organized by Seven Party Alliance (SPA) in Pushpalal Park, Butwal – the capital of the western Rupendehi District.
Five journalists – Ram Bahadur Ayr, editor of “Bimb Weekly”; Yogendra Balayer, correspondent for “Rajdhani Daily”; Dil Bahadur Chhatyal; Min Bahadur Bum; and Ran Bahadur Bohora – were also arrested in the western town of Doti, in Silgadhi District, at around 12:30 p.m. on 9 April, while participating in a rally organized to protest the recent arrest of journalists and professionals.
In another incident on the same day, army personnel attacked the office of the Chitwan-based “Paradarshi Daily” newspaper at around 1:30 p.m. The attackers hurled stones at the office of the daily, accusing it of disseminating news related to the SPA’s protest actions and of exaggerating the severity of related police actions.
Bishnu Nisthuri, the president of the FNJ, issued a press statement condemning the continuous attacks on journalists and media. He has also asked the government to immediately release all detained journalists.