Nepal Police arrested journalists directly from their newsrooms in Kathmandu on October 30. The arrested journalists are Biswamani Subedi of NepalPress.com, Dhiraj Basnet of DNAKhabar.com and Shovraj Baral of Motivatenews.com.
Similarly, police persons in plain clothes barged into newsrooms of Naya Patrika daily and Diyopost.com in search of other journalists. The officers claimed that they wanted to take the journalists to police station to question them about published news reports and their sources.
According to Matrika Paudel, editor of NepalPress.com, police persons from Cyber Bureau entered newsroom and took Subedi saying that they were taking him for a brief discussion on news sources.
Khagendra Panta, editor at Naya Patrika daily reported that a group of seven police persons entered its office in search of journalist Navaraj Mainali. They showed their identity cards and identified themselves as officers from Crime Investigation Division of Nepal Police but did not present any arrest warrant. They said they would take him to the Cyber Bureau as per order from their senior official.
A police team also visited the Diyopost.com office in search of journalists Sudip Bishwakarma and Madan Dhungana.
Media reports suggest that the arrests and police visit in media offices are linked to news reports concerning a high-ranking police official. Kantipur national daily reported that Nepal Police Spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle posted a statement in official WhatsApp group at 1:40 am on October 31 saying that amid the publication of news reports critical to Nepal Police and concerns raised by the Prime Minister's office, Cyber Bureau had invited a few journalists to its office in good faith to seek general information about accuracy and legal basis of claims made in the news reports.
The journalists were released after few hours following order from the Prime Minister Balendra Shah, according to the PM's press and investigation expert Dipa Dahal.
Freedom Forum Executive Chief Taranath Dahal said, "Arresting journalists from their workplaces in the name of investigation is against the norms of free press. Journalists have every right to protect their sources and report on issues of public interest."
Freedom Forum condemns the police intimidation of journalists. Arresting journalists without clearly established grounds for charges or arrest warrant raises serious concerns about media rights, safety of journalists and their sources.
The concerned authorities should instead seek redress through Press Council Nepal for any objections to published news reports. Arbitrary arrest of journalists for reporting news is a gross misuse of authority and direct attack upon press freedom, democratic values and public's right to information. Such high-handed actions is a serious violation of constitutionally guaranteed rights of media and journalists.
Freedom Forum strongly urges the security authorities to follow legitimate investigative procedures without infringing on media rights and to ensure an enabling environment for press freedom.
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