(CEHURDES/IFEX) – The following is a CEHURDES statement: CEHURDES welcomes court’s stay order Kathmandu, Oct. 27 – The Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES), a Kathmandu-based press freedom watchdog, welcomes the stay order issued by the Supreme Court of Nepal on Thursday asking the government not to initiate any action against Kantipur F.M., […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – The following is a CEHURDES statement:
CEHURDES welcomes court’s stay order
Kathmandu, Oct. 27 – The Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES), a Kathmandu-based press freedom watchdog, welcomes the stay order issued by the Supreme Court of Nepal on Thursday asking the government not to initiate any action against Kantipur F.M., a leading private sector radio station in the country, so as to cancel its operating license.
A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Poudel and Justices Mrs. Sharada Shrestha and Tapa Bahadur Magar ordered the government not to implement the letter of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) issued on Wednesday.
The court asked the government not to take any action so as to cancel the license of Kantipur F.M. until Sunday (October 30), when a hearing will be conducted on whether or not to issue an interim order as demanded by Kantipur F.M. The court will also hear two separate cases that challenge the new media law introduced by the government early this month.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Information and Communications gave a 24-hour ultimatum to Kantipur F.M., accusing it of violating the new media law and threatening to revoke its operating license “if it failed to furnish satisfactory clarification.”
Kantipur F.M. then decided to turn to the court once again on Thursday morning.
Last Friday (Oct. 21) at around midnight, four vans of police, accompanied by MoIC officials, raided the Kantipur F.M. office and seized eight sets of communications equipment used to uplink its transmission to its eastern regional center via satellite. The government has yet to return this equipment.
CEHURDES previously condemned the government’s act of raiding the office of Kantipur F.M. and seizing the equipment. This was in blatant violation of the very notion of rule of law in the country.
We urge the government to fully honour the verdict of the court and not to do anything that will further erode its credibility. We join the international community and various rights groups in the country calling for the immediate withdrawal of the controversial media law that will do no good to anybody, including the royal government.
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(Addendum: Hundreds of people from various walks of life visited the office of Kantipur F.M. in Lalitpur district throughout Thursday to express their solidarity with the radio station. They had plans to stage an overnight vigil at the radio station, but abandoned the programme following the court order. There was a heavy police presence in front of the radio station throughout the day. The seven-party opposition alliance has announced a shutdown strike in the capital on Friday to protest against the government’s action against Kantipur F.M., among others.)
