Nepal

Reporters Without Borders today condemned escalating kidnappings of journalists after three were snatched in less than a week, two of whom were later freed. The organisation has joined the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) to urge the government to launch an all-out search for Birendra Sah, who was abducted in Bara district. Sah, 34, correspondent for Nepal FM, Dristri Weekly and Avenues TV...

(FNJ/IFEX) - A Maoist-affiliated trade union prevented the printing of "Kantipur Daily" and "The Kathmandu Post" on 30 September 2007. Members of the All Nepal Communication, Printing and Publication Worker's Union entered the printing press of the publications located at Jadibuti, Kathmandu, during the day on 30 September 2007 and secretly damaged two machines used for printing. According to...

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders is shocked by the violent death of Shankar Panthi, a correspondent of the local pro-Maoist "Naya Satta Daily" newspaper, in Sunawal, in the western district of Nawalparasi. His body, which bore the signs of injuries to several parts of his body, was found by police at a roadside near a petrol station on 14 September 2007. "The behaviour of the police in this...

(FNJ/IFEX) - On 16 September 2007 Sanker Panthi, a correspondent for the Butwal-based daily newspaper "Naya Satta", was found dead with injuries over his head and body on the Mahendra Highway, in Sunwal, Nawalparasi district. According to Keshav Parajuli, the president of FNJ's Nawalparasi chapter, Panthi met his fate while on his way to collect news about the destruction by locals of a Young...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is outraged at the continued violence against journalists in Nepal, with three brutal incidents reported in the past week. According to IFJ affiliate the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Prabhu Yadhav, reporter for English-language weekly publication Young Guys, was allegedly kidnapped by a gang of armed assailants on September 6, before...

The International Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression Mission to Nepal has expressed serious concern about continuous violence against journalists in Nepal. Nepalese listen to a speech by unseen Maoist Chairman Prachanda at a rally in Kathmandu. Nepal's Maoists are cementing their new found political clout by establishing unions that could cripple the country and undermine a fragile peace deal...

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - A group of leading editors in Nepal have accused Maoists, who are now part of the interim government, of attacking press freedom through a "sinister pattern of intimidation and threats". Ten editors of leading newspapers, magazines and a television station said that Maoist unions, demanding better conditions for workers, had even entered newspaper offices to physically...

(FNJ/IFEX) - Forty-nine journalists working for the past 11 years for Gorkhapatra Corporation, a government-owned media group, were sacked by management without any genuine evaluation of their work on 26 July 2007. Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) President Bishnu Nisthuri said that management dismissed the journalists on the basis of its political interests. The management of the...

(CEHURDES/IFEX) - CEHURDES welcomes the passage of the Right to Information (RTI) Bill by the Legislature-Parliament, unanimously approved on 18 July 2007. The new law ensures: the right of every Nepali citizen to obtain any information from government bodies as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are operating with the support of the government, a foreign country or international...

(FNJ/IFEX) - Gyanendra Khadka, vice president of FNJ's Bhojpur chapter and a reporter for the "Nepal Samacharpatra Daily", was attacked by a group of security personnel at around 8:00 p.m. (local time) on 10 July 2007 in Bhojpur, a district in eastern Nepal. According to Sahimaan Rai, president of FNJ's Bhojpur chapter, Khadka was attacked by a group of about six armed police personnel while he...