KATHMANDU, Oct 31: Police on Friday detained and attempted to arrest several journalists by raiding media houses in a bid to identify sources of news reports, drawing strong condemnation from journalists and media organisations, which have described the action as an attack on press freedom.
Police entered the Kathmandu-based office of Nepal Press in Minbhawan and arrested its journalist Bishwamani Subedi on Friday. He was released at around 8 pm. Similarly, a group of plainclothes policemen arrived at the office of Naya Patrika and attempted to arrest its journalist Nawaraj Mainali. After remaining there for nearly three hours, the policemen left, saying they had come merely to deliver a notice.
Police also arrested Dhiraj Basnet, editor-in-chief of DNA Khabar, and Shobharaj Baral, editor of Motivate News, on Friday. They also attempted to arrest Sudip Bishwakarma, editor-in-chief of Diyopost, and editor Rita Budhathoki. Meanwhile, Nepal Press Chairman Binduraj Lamsal and Editor-in-Chief Matrika Poudel were summoned to the Cyber Bureau. Both went to the bureau after receiving phone calls from the police.
The detentions came a day after Nepal Police Headquarters issued a statement on Thursday warning of an investigation into a news report claiming that Inspector General of Police Dan Bahadur Karki was under pressure to resign.
A team from the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office arrived at Nepal Press to detain Subedi, who had written the report about the alleged pressure on IGP Karki to resign. Similarly, police personnel from the Valley Crime Investigation Office and the Cyber Bureau were deployed to arrest Mainali and others at Naya Patrika.
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Journalists detained by the Valley Crime Investigation Office were also handed over to the Cyber Bureau. Although the journalists were reportedly detained for examination of their mobile phones and there was pressure to initiate legal proceedings against them, all were released following widespread protests.
Minister for Information and Communications Bikram Timilsina said all the detained journalists had been released. In a social media post on Friday evening, he said, "The government is fully committed to press freedom. Press freedom and responsible journalism are the pillars of democracy."
Former President of the Federation of Nepali Journalists Shiva Gaunle said the police action against journalists amounted to an assault on the Constitution. "If the police have started entering newsrooms and arresting journalists to identify the sources of news reports, the Constitution has effectively ceased to exist in this country. We will continue fighting to protect press and freedom of expression, but first we will have to fight to save the Constitution," he said.
The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) also said arresting journalists for publishing news reports and entering newsrooms to detain them ran counter to the party's policies and principles.
RSP spokesperson Jagdish Kharel said arresting journalists over their reporting violated the constitutional guarantees of press freedom and freedom of expression. He said the party had a clear position against arresting journalists or harassing them under the pretext of questioning them over their news reports. However, he added that the party would issue an official statement after examining the details of the latest incidents.
The Press Council Nepal said it was seriously concerned about plainclothes police officers entering newsrooms of various media outlets after government office hours on Friday and detaining or attempting to arrest journalists.
In a statement issued on Friday, the council said the reasons for the arrests had not been made clear, arrest warrants had not been presented, and there was no indication that court approval had been obtained. It also noted that no clear information had been provided about whether complaints had been filed in connection with any alleged offences. The council said detaining journalists under such circumstances, just before two consecutive public holidays, was a matter of serious concern.
The Prime Minister's Office, meanwhile, said neither the prime minister nor his secretariat had any involvement in the incidents.
Deepa Dahal, press adviser to the prime minister, said on Friday that Prime Minister Balendra Shah, his secretariat and the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers had no role in the developments.
Responding to an inquiry from Republica, Dahal said, "The prime minister, his secretariat and the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers have absolutely no involvement in the developments that unfolded today. We have no information about them.”
Following widespread criticism, Nepal Police have released all the detained journalists.
