(CEHURDES/IFEX) – On 21 May 2002, security forces arrested three journalists in Kathmandu on charges of being allied with Maoist rebels. The three journalists are Krishna Sen, editor-in-chief of the vernacular daily “Janadisha” and central representative for the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Aatindra Neupane, correspondent for the daily “Janadisha”, and Sangeeta Khadka, correspondent for […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – On 21 May 2002, security forces arrested three journalists in Kathmandu on charges of being allied with Maoist rebels. The three journalists are Krishna Sen, editor-in-chief of the vernacular daily “Janadisha” and central representative for the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Aatindra Neupane, correspondent for the daily “Janadisha”, and Sangeeta Khadka, correspondent for the weekly “Jana Aahawan”.
According to the daily “The Kathmandu Post”, Sen, a central committee member of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN, Maoist), was arrested in a security sweep in Battisputali. Sen is the former editor of the weekly “Janadesh”, a pro-Maoist newspaper. However, security sources say that Sen was recently functioning as the Maoist commander for Kathmandu, in charge of the rebel outfit’s operations in the capital.
BACKGROUND:
Following the declaration of a “state of emergency” in Nepal on 26 November 2001, more than 100 journalists have been arrested in different parts of the country. More than two dozen journalists remain in detention. There have been no reports of official charges or cases filed against the journalists.
