The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) extends its full support to the protests and demonstrations undertaken in defence of press freedom by Nepal's media community.

At the same time, the IFJ condemns the unprovoked police assault on a peaceful demonstration by its affiliate, the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), in the vicinity of the national parliament building in Kathmandu city on December 22. FNJ secretary Ramji Dahal has reportedly suffered serious injuries in this attack.

"We are appalled at this latest incident of violence against a peaceful demonstration, especially as it comes on the watch of an elected government which had supposedly left the bad old days of monarchical dictatorship behind", said Jacqueline Park, the IFJ Asia-Pacific director.

In a concerted move to highlight the magnitude of the threat to press freedom from elements apparently enjoying official patronage, the Media Society and the Editors' Alliance in Nepal decided to publish all newspapers on December 23 with blank editorial spaces. Radio stations and TV channels similarly aired a special message of protest in place of news headlines, immediately after the signature tunes announcing their news bulletins.

This unique sequence of protests followed the attack on the offices of the Himalmedia group on December 21, which left twelve of its staff injured. Individuals associated with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the principal constituent of the ruling coalition in Nepal, are believed to have led the attack.

The IFJ is deeply concerned that the attack may be widening in scope. According to reports received from the FNJ, an affiliate organisation of the Maoists has in defiance of a judicial injunction, sought to take control of in-house unions in two other media establishments: the Asia-Pacific Communications Associates (APCA) and the Kantipur group. Both are large publishing houses with newspapers in both English and Nepali.

"We note that Nepal's Prime Minister has blamed ‘infiltrators' from his party for the recent spate of attacks on the media and committed himself to bringing the guilty to book", said Park.

"We welcome the Prime Minister's intervention in a matter of public concern and also are encouraged by the Nepali Home Minister's vow that he will ensure appropriate action is taken against those behind recent incidents of violence against the media".

The IFJ calls on the political leadership in Nepal to ensure that the rules established for recognising unions and granting them representative status are honoured and not arbitrarily breached by organisations enjoying official patronage".

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0919

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 123 countries