Photojournalist Machhe Narayan Shrestha at www.pnpkhabar.com- a news portal- was briefly detained for reporting a protest in Chitwan on August 20. Chitwan lies in Province 3 of Nepal.
Talking to Freedom Forum's media monitoring desk, journalist Shrestha said, "While I was reporting the public protest on the premises of the Narayani Community Hospital, some police officers approached me and took me under control. I sported my identity card and press pass but they did not listen to me. Police officers then took me to the station and kept for two hours reasoning interrogation. They released me only after deleting all the photos and video footage in my camera."
He was also threatened of arrest if he continued reporting at the place, informed Shrestha.
Recently, public outrage is seen at different places demanding release of a television journalist Rabi Lamichhane. Journalist Lamichhane was arrested in connection to the death of an ex-colleague few days ago.
Freedom Forum condemns the security officers' hostility towards journalist while reporting news. Arresting and harassing on-duty journalists even after knowing the identity is serious violation of press freedom and right to information. Hence, FF strongly urges the security agency to address the issue and ensure free and safe atmosphere for the working journalists.
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Freedom Forum, Kathmandu
Ph no: 01-4102030/ 4102022