New York, April 11, 2005 – Police in the Tanahu district in western Nepal are holding a local journalist for a three-month detention. The journalist, editor Robin Poudel of Tanahu Aawaj weekly newspaper, was arrested on Friday while covering a demonstration in Damauli that was called to protest the state of emergency established by King…
New York, April 8, 2005 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Nepalese government’s abrupt decision to stop publishing all ads in private media—an action that CPJ interprets as an attempt to stifle critical coverage. According to a copy of a government memo reproduced on April 6 in the weekly Jana Aastha, the new…
APRIL 4, 2005 Posted: April 7, 2005 Prabhakar Ghimire, Kantipur Narayan Sharma, Kantipur Khuman Singh Tamang, Kantipur HARASSED, THREATENED The three reporters for Kantipur, the country’s largest circulation Nepali-language daily, were called in for questioning by police in the southern city of Chitwan after their April 3 article, citing unnamed police sources, described the torching…
New York, April 4, 2005 – A critically wounded Nepali editor died last Friday, according to local news reports. Khagendra Shrestha, editor and publisher of Dharan Today newspaper, was shot in the head by unidentified gunmen just over two weeks ago. The assailants overtook him in his Dharan office, 335 miles east of Kathmandu. Shrestha,…
Your Majesty: In the Royal Proclamation of February 1, Your Majesty dismissed the government, declared a state of emergency and curtailed civil liberties. In early February, we visited Nepal’s ambassador to the United States, Kedar Bhakta Shrestha, who assured us that restrictions on the press were temporary and that Your Majesty was committed to democracy and free expression.
MARCH 16, 2005 Posted: March 17, 2005 Narayan Wagle, Kantipur HARASSED Police delivered a letter to Wagle, editor of Kantipur, Nepal’s largest daily, ordering him to present himself at the criminal investigation branch of the Kathmandu police office on the morning of March 17. Wagle told CPJ that he has been asked for “clarification” of…
New York, March 16, 2005—Police delivered a letter today to Narayan Wagle, editor of Kantipur, Nepal’s largest daily, ordering him to present himself at the criminal investigation branch of the Kathmandu police office tomorrow morning. Wagle told CPJ that he has been asked for “clarification” of news published earlier in the week. “The harassment of…
New York, March 15, 2005—Unidentified gunmen today shot and seriously injured a newspaper editor at his office in Dharan, 540 kilometers (335 miles) east of the capital, Kathmandu. Khagendra Shrestha, who edits the local Dharan Today newspaper, was shot twice in the head, according to local and international news reports. Shrestha was brought to B.P.…
Overviewby Abi Wright Threats to press freedom spiked throughout Asia in 2004, even as the news media claimed significant accomplishments. Across the region, 2004 was an election year, with citizens casting ballots in nations such as Afghanistan, whose landmark vote was peaceful and orderly, and India, where more than 370 million went to the polls.…
Nepal Amid an explosive civil conflict between Maoist rebels and government forces, the safety of the Nepalese press hung on the fragile prospects for peace. Estimates of the death toll since the collapse of a six-month cease-fire in August 2003 vary, but local journalists say heavy fighting in 2004 killed several thousand people. According to…