Nepal

Kali Bahadur Malla, a journalist working in Kalikot, a remote mid western district, was attacked by local hotel owners over his reporting on the sale and distribution of liquor in the district headquarters. A hotelier woman named Tika Sahi called Malla to her hotel and then attacked him with homemade weapons. One of the hotel owner's relatives reportedly helped her assault the journalist. The...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) in condemning the incidents leading to displacement of journalist Ramesh Rawal from Kalikot district of remote Karnali, mid-west Nepal two weeks ago. Rawal informed the FNJ that he was forced to move out of his home district after receiving continuous threats from various officials regarding news he...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) in welcoming the court verdict on the case of murder of journalist Yadav Poudel on July 10, 2014. A joint bench of Justices Udaya Prakash Chapagain and Gunaraj Dhungel at the Appellate Court handed over life imprisonment to Yubaraj Giri, Somnath Dhakal and his wife Manju Dhakal. The...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) in condemning the detention of 45 journalists in the capital city of Kathmandu by Nepal Police on July 1, 2014. Police arrested the journalists from the premises of the Ministry of Finance where they were staging a peaceful sit-in to demand the government pay for public welfare advertisements. The...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) in expressing serious concerns over the proposed Contempt of the Court Bill. The bill, registered on June 9 in the Legislature Parliament by the government, defines contempt of court including obstructing the implementation of justice delivery, influencing a sub judicial matter...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) in condemning an attack on a journalist on Sunday, June 7. Thakur Gurung, the news editor of Radio Bihani in Dhading district, was attacked in Bansathali, Kathmandu by an unidentified group while he was returning from a program that he attended in the capacity of a journalist. He...

The two men who murdered journalist Birendra Shah have been awarded life imprisonment. A judge in the central Bara district sentenced Mainejar Giri and Ram Ekwal Sahini to life terms and confiscated their property on May 30, according to local news reports. The two abducted and killed Shah, a local correspondent for the Nepal FM radio station, Dristi Weekly, and Avenues TV, on October 4, 2007...

Freedom Forum has expressed concern over the growing incidence of press freedom violations across the country. Freedom Forum's attention has recently been drawn towards an incident that occurred in Bajura, a district in the far-western region of the country, on March 1. Chief of the District Sports Committee, Nrip Singh Baduwal, leveled a death threat against journalist Prakash Singh, accusing him...

Nepal is failing to act in the face of the growing number of attacks on freedom targeting journalists, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has alleged. Nepal has reached an extremely worrying level of attacks on the media, mostly the responsibility of political parties and religious groups. “We call on the authorities to do everything to end these attacks, prevent a...

At the tenth session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group today, countries from around the world recommended the Nepali government immediately address the growing impunity in the country, and protect journalists and human rights defenders from attacks. "The international community has come together during today's review to highlight the growing concern about impunity in the country...