Reporter to www.nepalive.com and Janata television Lalit Bohora was issued death threat for reporting news critical to blood bank's authority on November 1 in Dadeldhura. Dadeldhura lies in Far-western province of Nepal.
Talking to Freedom Forum, reporter Bohora shared that he had reported a news on massive corruption in blood bank on the day of incident. Following the publication of news, chief of Blood Transfusion Center Santosh Bahadur Aire called Bohora on his mobile and threatened him of death for publishing the news.
However, Aire has apologized for his behaviour with the journalist and has committed not to repeat such mistake in future. He was arrested following a Bohora's complaint filed at the local police station.
Freedom condemns the threat issued to reporter for reporting news. Instead of adopting the legitimate way to express dissatisfaction over news content, threatening journalist is the gross violation of press freedom. However, Aire's apology and commitment not to repeat the mistake is laudable. Further, FF urges the concerned authority to ensure free and fair reporting atmosphere for journalists.
For more information,
Freedom Forum
monitoring@freedomforum.org.np