Reporter at www.sidhakura.com and birgunjcity.com Jiyalal Prasad Sah has been facing charges against cybercrime under the Electronic Transaction Act for his news reporting. Sah has been working from Parsa district, Madhesh Province.
Freedom Forum received an email from reporter Sah appealing for support and cooperation on November 20. In his email, Sah wrote a letter addressing FF’s chairperson that he has been facing charges for an investigative story which was published with his byline on the online news portal 11 months ago on January 9, 2024.
The story was about Birgunj Metropolitan’s Mayor Rajesh Man Singh’s involvement in a fake citizenship case. According to Sah, Mayor Singh helped a girl from a separate family receive a citizenship certificate by descendent with his name as her father.
Reporter Sah had mentioned Singh’s family members’ quotes and administration office’s documents as proof in the story.
"After publication of the story, Mayor Singh has been abusing me indirectly during his speeches in different programs. Again on September 19, 2024 I wrote news (https://www.birgunjcity.com/detail/678) about the Mayor’s fraudulent activity in the purchase of National flag along with the proof documents', he added, "Thereafter, Mayor Singh tried to lodge a complaint against reporter Sah at the District Police Office, Parsa. As the police refused to register his complaint, Singh registered his complaint at the District Government Attorney office, Parsa. The attorney office then, wrote to the district police office to register the case and initiate investigation as per the Criminal Procedure (Code) Act 2074 (Muluki Faujdaari Karyabidhi Sanhita, 2074) on October 23, 2024."
“Following this, an arrest warrant was issued against me under an offense related to Cybercrime. I am hiding currently to avoid myself from the arrest. Mayor Singh has repeatedly lodged complaint against me at the Press Council Nepal and the district court for the news published”, Sah writes.
Reporter Yadav was presented at the district court on November 26 and was released with deposit of bail amount Rs. 5000. Next hearing for the case is scheduled for December 17.
Freedom Forum is concerned over the information shared by reporter Sah. FF observed news published and documents shared by Sah. Despite provision of legitimate action by the Press Council Nepal, Mayor’s way of discrediting media and journalists in public and threatening journalists thereby, misusing ETA is deplorable. This action is an absolute violation of press freedom.
Hence, FF strongly urges both the security and regulatory authorities to investigate the case fairly and ensure justice to the journalist.
(This page was last updated on November 26, 2024.)
For more,
Freedom Forum
monitoring@freedomforum.org.np