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KATHMANDU, June 13: Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Arzu Rana Deuba has threatened Shova Gyawali, Director of Nepal Republic Media Limited, over a news report published on Thursday in Republica and its sister publication Nagarik concerning journalist Dil Bhusan Pathak.
Minister Rana made the threat during a phone call from the WhatsApp number of her personal secretary, Kamal Rawal, at 1:53 PM, warning that she would take action to bring down Nepal Republic Media and its management.
The report in question covered an arrest warrant issued by the Kathmandu District Court against journalist Pathak after his video report linked Jaiveer Singh Deuba, the son of former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and FM Rana to the share transactions of Kathmandu’s Hilton Hotel.
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Following the publication, FM Rana directly expressed her displeasure to Director Gyawali. Based on Jaiveer’s complaint against the news content that links him to a hotel share transaction, the Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police has already mobilized police personnel to arrest Pathak.
Pathak’s aide journalist Narayan Aryal was briefly detained on Thursday evening by the police in connection with the same case.
FM Rana was incensed by the publication of the news content, asserting that the report should not have been printed. When Gyawali stated she was unaware of the report’s specifics, Rana allegedly launched into a nearly four-minute verbal tirade. During the call, she also disclosed that legal action had been initiated under the Electronic Transactions Act because the news was disseminated through Pathak’s unregistered YouTube channel.
In response, Director Gyawali has informed the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, the Press Council Nepal, the National Human Rights Commission, and international organisations engaged in press freedom and journalist protection, including Freedom Forum, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the UN Women and UNESCO Office in Kathmandu.
Nepal Republic Media has expressed serious concern over the use of state mechanisms to threaten its director and has called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
