Mayor of Dharan Submetropolitan city Harka Sampang abused executive editor at Blast Khabar daily Bhojraj Shrestha in a program on April 27. Dharan lies in Koshi Province of Nepal.
Talking to Freedom Forum, vice-president of Federation of Nepali Journalists Sunsari chapter Ganesh Niraula shared that editor Shrestha was abused while reporting on the postponed executing meeting of the submetropolitan office. When the reporter tried to ask a question, Mayor Sampang asked the reporter which political party he belonged to.
Mayor Sampang refers the journalists' who write news critical to him as a 'journalist of political party', added journalist Niraula.
Freedom Forum has serious concern over the statement of a municipal chief. The people's representative should be open to criticisms and should cooperate journalists to secure free press and right to information. But the public authority's misbehaviour towards a journalist while reporting is a gross violation of press freedom.
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