AP. 25 January 2002. Group: Nepalese Government Has Arrested 41 Journalists Since November, 11 Still in Custody.
KATHMANDU -- The Nepalese government has arrested 41 journalists since imposing a state of emergency last year, and still detains 11 of them, a media group said Friday. Despite international pressure, the government continues to detain journalists, said Taranath Dahal, general secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists. "The Nepalese media has not crossed the limitations set by the emergency and yet the government continues to harass the media and arrest journalists without showing a cause," Dahal told The Associated Press. A state of emergency was declared Nov. 26 in this Himalayan kingdom by King Gyanendra after Maoist rebels ended a 4-month-old cease fire and attacked police, army and government installations. The government instructed the media not to publish any articles about, photographs of or statements from the rebels. Immediately after the emergency was imposed, police detained almost a dozen journalists working for leftist newspapers and shut down offices of the Jana Disha daily and the Deshabodh monthly newspaper described by the government as a rebel mouthpiece. However, in ensuing weeks, journalists working for independent media also were detained by the army or rounded up for questioning. "We have sent a list of journalists to the government demanding their immediate release. If these people are involved in other activities besides journalism, we have nothing to say. But the government should not harass professional journalists," Dahal said. The Paris-based Reporters without Borders said it has written to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba demanding that the jailed journalists be allowed to appear in court. In June, police arrested journalists working for the nation's leading newspaper, Kantipur, for running a piece by a Maoist leader urging the military to stop defending the palace after a massacre almost wiped out Nepal's royal family. The newspaper's editor, managing director and director were detained for a few days and released on bail. The government later withdrew the case against them. The guerrillas have been fighting in remote mountainous areas since 1996 to abolish Nepal's constitutional monarchy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews