KP Dhungana, a reporter with the Nagarik daily published from the capital city, Kathmandu, has been receiving flurry of death threats following a news report he published in the daily.
Talking to Freedom Forum's media monitoring desk, reporter Dhungana said, "Nearly 200 phone calls and messages of death threat has panicked me much after I published a news relating to a protection centre run by a woman in the capital city on February 27, 2014. The news was about the mistreatment to the elderly women, unhygienic condition of the children and lack of transparency in the protection centre.
According to reporter Dhungana, many threats came from the indigenous Nepali people from the country and abroad too. In the threats, as reporter shared, they said, "Can't you tolerate the progress of an indigenous person, a woman? You will see how we finish you off now."
Freedom Forum vehemently condemns the threat as it has badly terrified the journalists and violated his right to free reporting. If the persons issuing death threats to him had any complaint on news content, they could go to the Press Council Nepal and seek action from there. But issuing death threat merely because of news writing is against the press freedom.
Therefore, FF strongly urges the security agencies to provide ample security to the reporter and the persons issuing threat need to respect journalist's right and adhere to democratic practice.
For More Information
Freedom Forum
Thapathali, Kathmandu
Email: info@freedomforum.org.np
monitoring@freedomforum.org
Portals: www.freedomforum.org.np
www.nepalpressfreedom.org
Phone: 977-1-4102022; 4102030