Friday, November 11, 2005

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Nepal reporters lose court fight

Journalists protest in Kathmandu
Journalists say they are now left with only street protests
Nepal's Supreme Court has refused to block a controversial law that bans criticism of the king and bars private radio stations from broadcasting news.

Although this is not a final verdict, the ruling clears the way for the government to impose the law.

Critics say the law imposes severe curbs on the press but the authorities say they are not stifling the media.

King Gyanendra assumed direct power in February saying politicians had failed to tackle the nation's Maoist rebels.

Vibrant

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Poudel refused to defer the law, which also introduces much higher fines for defamation.


Now street protests are our last resort. The ruling has crushed hopes of the journalists

Major opposition parties and key donors such as India and the US and international media watchdogs have criticised the law.

The BBC's Sushil Sharma in Kathmandu says Nepal's independent media have been vibrant since the establishment of a multi-party democracy 15 years ago.

But lawyers for media groups who brought the petition to the Supreme Court seeking the deferral now admit defeat.

Ram Krishna Niraula, a lawyer for Kantipur Publications, Nepal largest media group, told Associated Press: "We have lost the case. Though the final decision is yet to come, it has little meaning."

Narayan Wagle, editor the Kantipur newspaper, said: "We have lost our battle in the court. Now street protests are our last resort. The ruling has crushed hopes of the journalists."

Analysts say part of the king's agenda since his takeover has been to crack down on dissent in order, the authorities say, to quell the Maoist insurgency. Sphere: Related Content
Bhutanese refugees take part in a sit-in protest in front of the United Nations Office at Pulchowk in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, November 11, 2005. The refugees are protesting to attract the attention of the leaders of the South Asian countries taking part in their regional meeting in Dhaka.
REUTERS/Gopal Chitrakar
Sphere: Related Content

Tuesday, November 08, 2005


The son of former Nepal prime minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand was released after being held for almost two weeks by Maoist rebels who had abducted him to press for payments to sugarcane farmers.
(AFP/File/Devendra M. Singh) Sphere: Related Content

Friday, November 04, 2005

Xinhua - English | Search continues for missing climbers in Nepal

www.chinaview.cn 2005-11-04 19:59:37

KATHMANDU, Nov. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- A 30-member rescue team comprising alpinists from Nepal and France and sniffer dogs continued their search Friday for the bodies of 16 climbers hit by the avalanche while attempting to climb Mt. Kanguru.

"There has not been much progress until now," said Bikram Neupane, president of the Himalayan Rescue Association.

Neupane said that all the rescue members will be returning to Kathmandu on Saturday and the meeting will decide whether to continue search operations.

On Thursday, Neupane and French Ambassador Michel Jolivet flew by helicopter in the region to take stock of the rescue mission.

Seven French and 11 Nepali climbers, during their expedition to summit the 6,981-meter Mt. Kanguru, in Narphu valley of Manang district, some 200 km west of Kathmanduwere, buried alive in the avalanche on October 20.

The rescue team last week on Wednesday recovered the body of French climber Bruno Chadrin while the second body of another French climber was retrieved on Tuesday this week.
Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, November 03, 2005


A Nepali boy watches people celebrating the Newar New Year during a parade in the capital Kathmandu November 2, 2005. Newars are the native people of Kathmandu and observe their own calendar according to which Wednesday is the first day of the year 1126. The celebrations continue throughout the day with traditional bands, dances and a motorcycle rally. REUTERS/Gopal Chitrakar
Sphere: Related Content

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Son of former prime minister abducted in Nepal

1st NOV 09:59 hrs IST
Former Nepal PM's son abducted
- -
Kathmandu: Maoists have abducted Arun Chand, son of former Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand, from Kailali district of western Nepal, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said.

Chand, Executive Director of Basuling Sugar Mills, was abducted from the compound of the sugar mills in Chuha village of Kailali on Thursday, according to the NHRC.

A complaint to this effect was lodged at the commission by Chand's family, four days after the incident.

The Commission has urged the Maoists for his unconditional and immediate release.

However, Maoists have not claimed responsibility for the incident so far.

Meanwhile, the Kantipur reported that a group of about ten Maoists took the ex-prime minister's son away to ''question him''.

''We did not make the incident public hoping that the Maoists would release him soon but it has already been four days and we still don't know his whereabouts,'' the daily quoted family sources as saying.

Employees at the mill said the local Maoists leaders have been pressuring the management of the mill to pay outstanding dues to the farmers, the paper said.
Sphere: Related Content