Freedom Forum has been alarmed again with the incidents of press freedom violations occurred in a district in the southern plain of the country on February 12-13.
In Bara district headquarters, Kalaiya, the protestors torched the copies of four national dailies- the Kantipur daily, Nagarik daily, Annapurna Post daily and the Nayapatrika daily on February 12, reasoning that the newspapers did not public the news on their protest in the front page.
According to Right to Information (RTI) activist, Santosh Pande from Bara, the protest is led by various organizations, including the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the district. They have been organizing general strike against the government decision to open branches of public offices in different places of the district.
On February 13, the protestors torched a vehicle (Lu 1 Cha 4336) belonging to the Kantipur Publications. The vehicle was carrying the newspaper for distribution.
Freedom Forum condemns the incidents and strongly urges the protestors to resorts to peaceful campaign and respect press freedom and people's rights to freedom of expression. Also, the concerned administrations need to be aware to prevent further damages on media.
For More Information
Freedom Forum
Thapathali, Kathmandu
Post Box No: 24292
Phone No. 4102030, 4102022
Website: www.nepalpressfreedom.org; www.freedomforum.org.np
Email: monitoring@freedomforum.org.np; info@freedomforum.org.np;