The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), in calling for full accountability from the authorities over an incident in which a journalist was reportedly taken in by the police and questioned in what appears to be an attempt at intimidation.
According to reports received from the FNJ, Suman Malla, Station In-Charge of Radio Mugu in the mid-western region of Nepal, was arrested at his office on December 14, a few days after his station broadcast a news item on weapons smuggling in the region. The district administration apparently claimed that the arrest was made after Malla refused to clarify certain aspects about the news broadcast.
The FNJ has called on the district administration to explain its actions which in its words, constitute a serious assault on the “right of a journalist to report on matters that concern the general public”.
Nepal’s national law allows for various other means through which government authorities and the general public can seek redress for grievances occasioned by media reporting.
The FNJ has, in the context of the recent incident, reiterated its longstanding conviction that the government should adopt the lawful course, rather than employ tactics of arrest and intimidation.
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