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Nepal
2007: Press Freedom
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| Journalists
threatened and brutally attacked in Nepal |
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FNJ
News, March 2007
Journalists
threatened
2007-03-27
A
dozen local journalists of Itahari, an eastern city of Nepal, were threatened
to be killed by Ritesh Shrestha of Maoist's Young Communist League (YCL)
on 26 March.
According
to Gobinda Ghimre, president of FNJ Sunsari chapter, the journalists were
threatened in an interaction program organized by Area Police Office, Itahari.
The program was held to discuss about the news titled "Numbers of sex workers
in Itahari increasing" published at Itahari Weekly.
During
the program, Ritesh Shrestha of Maoist's Young Communist League (YCL) labeled
media persons as being corrupt and said he would kill all of them. Journalists
Shaligram Pandey, Amar Khadka, Suman Giri, Shekhar Adhikari, Arjun Sharma
and Santosh Yadhav are among other as being labeled corrupt by Shrestha
and were threatened to be killed. Various leaders of eight political parties,
civil society representatives, hotel entrepreneurs and journalists were
present at the program.
Federation
of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) condemned the act and has urged the responsible
parties to take action against Shrestha. The federation also urged the
concerned party to clear the problem through discussion or through the
legal procedure if they are dissatisfied with the news rather than issuing
threats to the journalists. FNJ also urged the party to respect press freedom
and freedom of expression.
FNJ
organizes sit-in protest
2007-02-04
Federation
of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) organized a sit-in protest at Mandala of
Kathmandu against the brutal attacks on five journalists at Biratnagar,
a central town of Nepal, today.
The
five journalists were attacked by Madhesi Janatantrik Forum (MJF) cadres
while they were reporting news on peace rally. The MJF cadres rounded them
and beat them up with stick. Two of the journalists were seriously injured.
The
federation held a sit in protest demanding to stop the attacks on press,
safety and security of journalists and media institutions and to guarantee
complete press freedom.
During
the protest program, FNJ secretary General Mahendra Bista expressed serious
concern over the attacks and threats to journalists in terai region. He
said, the revolutionary parties should take the responsibility of all the
attacks and should immediately stop the planned attacks on journalists.
He also informed that 16 media persons and five media houses have been
attacked, 16 have been threatened and harassed, 15 have been displaced
from their working area, 34 newspapers have stalled their publication and
12 vehicles belonging to media
institutions and media houses have
been vandalized.
FNJ
past presidents, media persons, civil society representatives and human
rights activists participated in an hour long protest program.
Nepalgunj,
Butwal, Pokhara, Chitwan, Jhapa and Itahari chapters of the federation
also held protest programs separately .
Violence
against press continues in riot-torn south
Reporters
Without Borders today reiterated its deep concern about journalists in
southern Nepal, where intercommunal rioting continues. Journalists have
been forced to flee their towns, some media have temporarily stopped publishing,
and press personnel have been attacked.
Media
workers have reacted with terror to the appearance of posters in public
squares in the southern city of Birgunj with lists of "wanted" journalists
for whose capture rewards are offered. The posters have prompted 11 journalists
to flee the districts of Parsa, Bara and Rautat in fear of their lives.
The
journalists who have been forced to flee their place of work are Govinda
Devkota of Nepal Samacharpatra and Nepal FM 91.8, Kantipur reporters Sujeet
Mahat, Shiva Puri and Shankar Aacharya, Sudeep Aryal of the Annapurna Post,
Pawan Yadav of Radio Birgunj, Bipin Gautam of Radio Narayani, Ashok Pahadi
of the Prateek Daily, Phani Mahat of Nepal Samacharpatra and freelancers
Narayan Devkota and Sanjaya Karki.
Demonstrators
damaged the motorcycle of radio Nepal FM 91.8 reporter Bikram Luitel on
30 January. Rioters attacked three journalists on the street in the southern
district of Morang on 29 January. The same day, police beat a photographer
working for local newspaper Satya Sandesh as he was taking pictures of
the rioting.
Newspapers
and magazines in Birgunj jointly decided to stop publishing from 29 January
until today in protest against the orchestrated violence against the press.
The press also disappeared from news stands in Bara district for two days.
The
Federation of Nepalese Journalists, whose president, Bishnu Nisthuri, visited
Birgunj, has asked the government to quickly provide protection for journalists
and to arrest those responsible for the attacks. Police have arrested former
monarchist ministers suspected of instigating rioting by members of the
Madeshi ethnic group.
According
to Gobinda Ghimre, president of FNJ Sunsari chapter, the journalists were
threatened during an interactive program organised by the Itahari Area
Police Office. The session was held to discuss an article entitled "Numbers
of sex workers in Itahari increasing", published by "Itahari Weekly".
During
the program, Ritesh Shrestha of the YCL labeled media persons as corrupt
and said he would kill all of them. Journalists Shaligram Pandey, Amar
Khadka, Suman Giri, Shekhar Adhikari, Arjun Sharma and Santosh Yadhav were
among those labeled corrupt by Shrestha and were threatened to be killed.
Various leaders of eight political parties, civil society representatives,
hotel entrepreneurs and journalists were present at the session.
FNJ
condemns the act and has urged the responsible parties to take action against
Shrestha. The federation also urges the concerned parties to resolve their
problems through discussion or by legal means if they are dissatisfied
with news coverage rather than issuing threats to journalists. FNJ also
urges the party to respect press freedom and freedom of expression.
Source:
Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) 2007
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