Speaking to myrepublica.com, a family member said, “There is no case against him (Basnet) and the sooner the army finalizes his case, the better for his career.” The source also added that NA top brass “do not want” to let go of the case for “fear" of other alleged human rights abuses being dragged to civilian courts. [break]
Kavre District Court has ordered the arrest of Basnet and three other army officers for their alleged involvement in the torture and killing of Maina Sunar in custody in the army´s Paanchkhal barracks.
Basnet family members, who feel that the whole case has led to Basnet´s “character assassination” and invited “unnecessary trouble” for him, have also questioned NA´s delayed response over the case. “What about the financial loss he has suffered and the setback to his career?” a close relative said.
During this time of detention (NA calls it observation), Basnet has only once been questioned by the three-member Court of Inquiry on his repatriation from a UN mission in Chad.
According to high-level NA sources, Basnet informed the members that he was called for questioning at the UN mission office over the Maina Sunar case. “He told the UN mission that he has already issued a clarification over the case at the time of the army´s investigation and asked the officers to refer to case details,” the source told myrepublica.com, quoting Basnet.
Since Basnet´s return on December 11, he has been “asked to stay inside headquarters for security reasons”. Otherwise he has been given full facilities. He was even allowed once to pay a visit to his family duration this period, his family informed myrepublica.com. Moreover, family members also said that Basnet has now been given “verbal assurance” of an on-duty transfer, meaning a posting at headquarters itself.
Meanwhile, one member of the Court of Inquiry, Colonel Shiva Ram Kharel, was given a transfer to Jumla only recently.
Although the Defense Ministry and NA have already said that Basnet is innocent, family members feel the case has been delayed in order to “protect other three main accused in the case.”
Bobby Khatri and Sunil Adhikari are currently away (either in Australia or Singapore). It is learnt that Khatri´s wife is a relative of former queen Komal and Adhikari served as personal staff officer to then major-general Rookmangud Katawal. The other accused, Amit Pun, is a brother of army chief Chhatra Man Singh Gurung´s daughter-in-law.
“If Niranjan is handed over to Kavre District Court, the door will be open for other accused as well as other human rights cases from the emergency time to be pulled to civilian courts. That will call into question the entirety of army court rulings,” the family source said. He also added, “If Niranjan appears before a civilian court, his case will be dismissed within no time.”
The defense minister and the NA chief have already stated that there is “no case” against Basnet. Defense Minister Bidya Devi Bhandari told reporters last month that “Niranjan is innocent.” General Gurung told myrepublica.com that a letter will be sent to the UN again stating that there is no case against Basnet. The army has argued double jeopardy (that no one can be tried twice for the same offense).
Asked to comment, Brigadier General BA Kumar Sharma of NA´s legal department said, “The case will take time.”
akanshya@myrepublica.com
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