NEPAL: Photo journalists manhandled

Photojournalists assaulted while attempting to take photos of former customs office chief at Tribhuvan International Airport

Nepal News
Thursday, November 17, 2005

AsiaMedia Editor's Note: Reports are unclear as to whether the lifting of the state of emergency on April 30 allows for press freedom, and thus Nepalnews may still be operating under the directives of King Gyanendra.

Family members and relatives of Mrs. Sabitri Rajbhandari, former chief of customs office at the Tribhuvan International Airport have manhandled photo-journalists Naresh Shrestha and Rajesh Gurung while they were trying to take snaps of Mrs. Rajbhandari in the court premises. She had been produced before the Special Court in Kathmandu on a graft case.

According to Annapurna Post daily, a group of over a dozen people, including Mrs. Rajbhandari's husband and former chief election commissioner, Keshav Raj Rajbhandari, manhandled journalists duo while they were taking snaps. They seized the camera of photo-journalist Shrestha and manhandled and seized the identity card of Gurung. Shrestha's camera flash was destroyed during the scuffle.

Police later returned the camera of Shrestha but Gurung's I-D card is yet to be returned.

Rights groups and press freedom monitoring agencies have condemned the manhandling of photo journalists, Shrestha and Gurung, and have asked the government to book the culprits. They have also demanded compensation to the journalists for the damage.

"At a time when Nepalese press is under threat from the government, the latest incident highlights threats emanating also from the civil society," said Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES), a Kathmandu-based press freedom monitoring group, in a statement on Wednesday. The group also demanded that former CEC Rajbhandari beg public apology for his alleged misbehaviour towards media professionals.

In a separate incident, the District Administration Office (DAO) of Parsa in southern Nepal has sent a letter to Birgunj F. M. asking it to air 'notices only.'

DAO's directive goes against the new media ordinance introduced by the government last month, reports said. The ordinance bars the F. M. radio stations from broadcasting news-related programmes and asks them to air 'information-related programmes' only. The DAO has written a letter to the F. M. at a time when the issue is sub-judice.

Save Independent Radio Movement has condemned the government's latest act of what it called intimidating an independent radio station and has demanded that the DAO withdraw its directive.