IFJ Voices Concern about Wave of Media Attacks in Nepal

 

 

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) holds concerns for the status of press freedom of Nepal as the escalating trend of attacks and threats against journalists enters its second month with five separate anti-media incidents reported overnight.

 

According to the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), an IFJ affiliate, Sushil Dhunganga, news correspondent for Samachar Saransha received death threats over the telephone for an article “Increasing smuggling at Vajani Border, Concerned Authority Silent” published in the daily on August 1.

 

Dhunganga is based in Dhangadi, Kalilai, in Nepal’s far-west.

 

Samjhana Paudel, news correspondent from Nepal FM was harassed and arrested by police while reporting on a protest program organized by womens’ rights activists on August 3 at Maitighar Mandala, Kathmandu.

 

The police reportedly asked her upon her arrest, “You are the one that writes about women?”, the FNJ reports.

 

She was released at 10pm that evening.

 

Two members of the FNJ Dhanusha chapter in the central region, Ajyay Sah and Ganesh Kharel reported threats of by a commander of the Terai Rastriya Mukti Sena (TRMS) in Janakpur on August 5.

 

The commander threatened violence against the journalists when they refused to obey a TRMS press release calling for the closure of all FM radio and newpapers using Nepali language in the troubled Terai region.

 

In Sunsari, also in Nepal’s eastern region, members of the Madheshi Students’ Front set alight copies of the newspapers Kantipur, Samacharpatra, and Blast Times, apparently blaming journalists for not covering their conflict with students from the Dharan Engineering College.

 

“The role of the media in any democracy is to report accurately and fairly on all issues and events in the public interest including all aspects of political conflict, particularly in Nepal’s current period of fragile transition,” said the IFJ Asia-Pacific.

 

“It is alarming to see individuals including representatives of political parties and local authorities interrogating and attacking journalists for fulfilling their responsibilities to the Nepal public.”

 

The IFJ joins the FNJ in expressing disappointment and concern at the Nepal government’s continued neglect for adequate safety and protection for journalists despite its April election promises.

 

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

 

The IFJ represents over 600,000 in 122 countries worldwide