Police persons attacked journalists Mahendra Sapkota and Bhim Bahadur Sijapati while reporting at vote counting site in Dailekh on May 16. Dailekh lies in Karnali Province of Nepal.
Journalists Sapkota and Sijapati are associated with Avenues television and Radio Nepal respectively.
Police used force and started baton charge on journalists and public in the crowd following a clash among cadres at the vote counting site.
Journalist Sijapati shared with Freedom Forum, "Even though we raised our hands and showed our Identity Card as journalists, police persons continued baton charge on us. We received injuries on hands and legs."
Police Inspector on-duty also threatened the reporters to take whatever action they could take against the police misbehavior, informed Sijapati.
Freedom Forum condemns the attack as it is sheer violation of press freedom. In the name of controlling clash or protest, police officers have no right to attack journalists and general public. Moreover, attacking journalists despite revealing their identity is unacceptable.
Hence, FF strongly urges the concerned officers to respect journalists’ rights to free reporting.
For more information,
Freedom Forum
monitoring@freedomforum.org.np