Reuters | Media group seeks release of Nepal journalists

Sat February 19, 2005 3:14 PM GMT+05:30

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - An international media watchdog urged Nepal's royalist government on Saturday to lift strict censorship and free six journalists detained since King Gyanendra took power this month.

Nepal has come under intense pressure from rights groups after King Gyanendra's surprise move on Feb. 1 to sack the government, take charge of the country, declare a state of emergency and impose media censorship.

Kathmandu also banned media reports critical of the king and army officers have been stationed at newspapers and radio and television stations to monitor coverage. At least six journalists are under arrest and many others are on the run.

"All these six journalists should be released immediately," Christopher Warren, chief of Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists, told reporters. "The military should immediately cease its search for other journalists."

Warren, in Nepal to assess the condition of the media, said many newspapers had been forced to close down and independent FM radio stations were barred from broadcasting news, resulting in job losses for about 600 journalists.

He said some journalists, including Tara Nath Dahal, chief of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), were in hiding to avoid arrest.

"The clampdown on freedom of expression and the attempt to stifle democratic forces is against fundamental human rights and must be strongly resisted," Warren said.

Political parties say hundreds of party activists, human rights workers, trade union members and student union leaders are either in jail or under house arrest in an attempt to prevent any protests against Gyanendra's move.

India, Britain and the United States have led global condemnation of Gyanendra's power grab and warned him that they might stop crucial military aid needed to crush a bloody Maoist revolt that has killed more than 11,000 people since 1996.

Earlier this month, French media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said that Nepal had a poor record of protecting media rights. In 2004, it was for the third consecutive year the country with the largest number of journalists arrested in the world. Sphere: Related Content