(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has written to Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to protest the arrest of journalist Youbraj Pandey, who works for the daily “Naya Disha”, and the police raid on the premises of two weekly newspapers in Kathmandu. “We can only condemn this arrest, which once again confirms Nepal’s unfortunate record as the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has written to Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to protest the arrest of journalist Youbraj Pandey, who works for the daily “Naya Disha”, and the police raid on the premises of two weekly newspapers in Kathmandu. “We can only condemn this arrest, which once again confirms Nepal’s unfortunate record as the world’s largest prison for journalists,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. The organisation demanded an explanation for Pandey’s arrest. “If this journalist was arrested because of the articles he has written, it is the government’s duty to release him immediately,” Ménard said in his letter.
Given that the authorities have not produced any evidence to prove their membership in the Maoist Party, RSF has asked the prime minister to do his utmost to secure the release of the 30 journalists and media workers who are currently in prison in Nepal. RSF also asked that the reasons for the police raid on the premises of the two weekly newspapers “Nawa Yougabni” and “Nepali Awaj” be made public.
According to RSF’s information, plainclothes police burst into the Shrinkala print shop, which houses the two weeklies “Nawa Yougabni” and “Nepali Awaj”, in Thapagaon, Kathmandu, on 29 April 2002. They arrested two journalists and six of their colleagues and confiscated news clippings and a negative of the wife of Maoist leader Prachanda. The two journalists, Kedar Bhattarai and Prakash Thapa, together with Sita Adhikari, a computer operator with “Nepali Awaj”, Balram Dhamala, a proof-reader, Prahlad Basnet, an assistant, Rajkumar Karki, a cameraman, and Bel Bahadur Ale, an employee, were released after being questioned for three hours. Following the intervention of Tej Prakash Pandit, editor of “Nawa Yougbani” and chairman of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), police apologised for the arrests. The security forces apparently stated that they were obeying orders “from above” and knew nothing more. Tej Prakash Pandit maintains, however, that the police raid could have been ordered by the prime minister, who was reportedly irritated by the publication of articles criticising his government and his management of the state of emergency.
In addition, Pandey, a correspondent for the daily “Naya Disha” and member of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), was arrested on 27 April at his office in Butwal, Rupendehi District (south-west of Kathmandu). No explanation was given for his arrest, which brings to 30 the total number of journalists and media workers who are in prison in Nepal.
RSF published its fact-finding mission’s report on the “Consequences of the State of Emergency and of the Fight Against ‘Maoist Terrorism’: Attacks on Freedom of the Press”, on 16 April (see IFEX alert of 27 March 2002). The report can be read on RSF’s website: www.rsf.org.
