The following report was brought out by courier from Kathmandu, where all communication with the outside world is cut off, except for select satellite telephones and internet connections mostly controlled by embassies. The general public had no access to communication with the outside world from 10:00 AM on 1 February 2005 until at least 7:00 PM on 2 February 2005. All domestic telephones are also shut off, both mobile and land lines. People are traveling from one place to another to communicate.] Freedom of expression, political organizing, assembly, among others, have been the first casualties of the king's takeover on February 1, 2005. Below are only a small number of incidents narrated by those working in the press sector in Nepal: This is a photo of the building that houses Radio Sagarmatha in Kathmandu. This is South Asia's first community radio station, and it is now occupied by army personnel who require that all news is passed by them for approval, at least as of 2 days ago. The same holds true for other media outlets including the largest newspapers in the country. 1. All private media houses have been virtually run by military personnel since yesterday. In Rajdhani daily, one of the vernacular dailies published from Kathmandu, an army major commanded about a dozen military personnel and made the editors to show all reports to him for approval before the paper is sent to press. "You have written about Girija and Madhav Kumar Nepal for the last fourteen years. Now is the time for you to write about His Majesty the king", the major told one of the editors. 2. In the Kantipur offices, which publishes Kantipur and Kathmandu Post dailies as well as broadcasting the Kantipur news program on television, army personnel circulate through the newsroom. The newspaper staff reports that they have been told to pass all stories by army personnel for approval before printing the paper, or the newspapers will be shut down. Army personnel also stand by in the broadcasting building while news programs are being aired. The 2 February 2005 Kathmandu Post printed mainly news stories from the governmental news feed, the Rastriya Samachar Samiti, while most days this paper publishes mainly reports by staff writers. 3. In Jana Astha, a vernacular weekly published from Kathmndu, the army major sat in a chair in front of the editor's table and dictated word by word what he should be writing in the editorial. It was another matter for discussion whether the paper could publish an abstract cartoon, which showed a pigeon escaping from two hands, effectively meaning the peace will become more distant. 4. A number of armymen sat through the night in the office of Sankhu, a vernacular weekly published from Kathmandu, even though the publishers and editorial team had decided not to publish their coming issue. 5. Radio Sagarmatha, the first community radio station in South Asia, is now being manned full-time by khaki-clad and machine-gun-totting Royal Nepal Army officers. They have not allowed any news, discussions and regular programs to be broadcast. This morning (Feb 2), they did not even allowed a discussion on women's health problems of uterus prolapse. The officers said that no news can be broadcast from now onwards. The army personnel control the coming and going records of all the visitors including all the staffs (photographs attached). 6. In Pokhara, a city 200 kilometers west of Kathmandu, armymen told local media houses to shut down "until further notice". "You don't have to publish news from now onwards. This is the responsibility of the Kathmandu-based daily papers," an army personnel stationed in one of the media houses was quoted as saying to a local reporter of one of the national vernacular dailies. 7. The king ?invited? all the editors of major national dailies and ?asked? them to cooperate with his government. 8. All the FM stations outside the Kathmandu valley have been shut down. 9. Army personnel have taken charge of both Nepal Telecom and UTL, the two companies providing telephone and other communication services. All mobile and landline telephone service was still shut off as of 2 February evening. 10. Army personnel have taken control of all the internet-service providers in the country and have shut down all internet service. 11. Security forces have placed the leaders of most of the political parties under arrest until further notice. Student group leaders have also been placed under arrest. It is also said that the head of a major human rights organization was also placed under arrest. ----------------- My Source: Sebsonline.org