MAY 18, 2005 Posted: June 10, 2005 Nepal Television ATTACKED Rebels bombed the state-owned Nepal Television tower in the western district of Palpa, according to local and international news reports. No one was hurt, but broadcasts of Nepal Television in the region were disrupted, according to the online version of the daily Kantipur and The…
New York, May 18, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about the safety of reporter Som Sharma, who was abducted from his residence in the eastern district of Ilam late last week. The abduction is one of several serious attacks on the press in recent days by both Maoist rebels and the government.…
Your Majesty: Nearly 100 days after Your Majesty dismissed the government and curtailed civil liberties, press freedom has not been restored. Your Majesty has not lifted a ban on reporting that goes “against the letter and spirit” of your February 1 proclamation. A ban on FM radio news broadcasting remains in place, depriving rural citizens of their only source of independent news. And your government continues to harass and intimidate journalists.
Nothing against the “letter and spirit” This directive for journalists was published in Gorkhapatra, the government-owned daily, on February 3: “Invoking Sub Clause 1 of Clause 15 of His Majesty’s Print and Publication Act 2048 and considering the nation and national interest, His Majesty’s Government has banned for six months any interview, article, news, notice,…
Before the arrival of democracy in 1990, no independent newspapers were published in Nepal. State media praised government policies and refused to carry critical comment or analysis. A few privately owned tabloids vaguely affiliated with political parties were tolerated, largely because their news coverage was sensationalist and often sleazy. Radio and television were entirely government run.
APRIL 26, 2005 Posted: May 4, 2005 Dwarika Uprety, Roadmap DETAINED The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the arrest of Dwarika Uprety, publisher of the weekly Roadma. Plainclothes security officers detained Uprety while he was walking to work this morning in the Putalisadak district of Kathmandu, according to the Kantipur news Web site.
New York, April 26, 2005 —The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s arrest of Dwarika Uprety, publisher of the weekly Roadmap. Plainclothes security officers detained Uprety while he was walking to work this morning in the Putalisadak district of Kathmandu, according to the Kantipur news Web site. The editor of Roadmap, Kamal Koirala, said in…