“The media environment for journalists has not improved since Nepal’s transition to democratic rule in 2008,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ Asia program coordinator. “Police must investigate the death threats Bista received and bring the perpetrators of this vicious attack to justice.” [break]
Issuing a statement in New York on Wednesday, the journalist watchdog said research shows that acts of violence against Nepali journalists historically have occurred frequently and without official investigations. The attack against Bista is the most serious journalist assault reported in Nepal since the shocking January murder of Uma Singh.
Bista was discovered unconscious near her home in Rukum district on Tuesday afternoon, with serious injuries to her head, legs, and arms, according to local press freedom group the Federation of Nepali Journalists. The wounds suggested she had been attacked with a razor blade and pushed down a steep hill, the federation and local news reports said. Her laptop and mobile phone were found smashed nearby along with scattered documents. Bista, a reporter with the local daily Rajdhani who also contributed to other newspapers, was a member of the federation’s local chapter. She was airlifted to Kathmandu on Wednesday. Doctors in Kathmandu Model Hospital where she has been admitted say her condition is critical.
Bista reported receiving death threats from Maoist groups on November 29 after publishing a commentary in the local Jantidhara weekly that criticized local members of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) for using intimidation and threats, the federation said.
CPJ referred to its letter it wrote to former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal — the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) leader — in February to protest the rise in unpunished attacks on the press. Since then, political rifts within the democratically elected coalition government have slowed efforts to combat impunity.
Nepal is placed eighth on CPJ’s 2009 Impunity Index, which ranks the 14 worst countries in the world for solving journalist murders recorded by CPJ since 1998.
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