Security officers at the House of Representatives obstructed journalists from entering the media gallery to report on election of deputy speaker on July 15. The incident took place in the federal capital Kathmandu.
Journalist at Gorkhapatra national daily Narayan Kafle, who was also at the site shared with Freedom Forum that they were allowed to report first session of the House but they were not allowed to report the second session even after showing their entry cards.
“When we asked the officers about reason for obstruction, they said it was an order from the higher level. On the other hand, parliamentary secretariat’s authority later said that they did not give such order”, Kafle informed.
“We were about 15-20 journalists who were asked to stay at the media center to report where audio/ visual system does not even function well”, he added.
On FF’s question about his observation, Kafle said that the parliamentarians and secretariat officials are yet to trust and respect media and its role. It sometimes also depends upon their interest and the ongoing issues in the House.
Freedom Forum is concerned over the incident as it is sheer violation of press freedom. Parliamentary proceedings are obviously the public interest and concern, thus journalists have right to report on those issues making citizens informed.
Hence, FF strongly urges the concerned authority to respect right of journalists and ensure free and fair reporting atmosphere.
For more information,
Freedom Forum
monitoring@freedomforum.org.np